This year will end within three days. Everyone wishes that the coming year will be better than the current one. But what will change in the coming year 2010? Will it just be the year or there will be other changes?

On a political level, in January we will witness some changes in the cabinet of ministers. This is so since Commissioner-to-be John Dalli will have to resign both from Minister and also from Member of Parliament. Then it will be up to the Prime Minister to choose someone, or more than one, to be appointed as Minister. Maybe the PM will await the results of the bye election before making the necessary changes. We might also end up with a new Speaker as well. However, for now these are only speculations and we will only get a clear picture towards the end of January beginning of February.

Also from January we shall start paying higher tariffs for the water and electricity bills. All this in spite of the repercussions that the country will suffer. The process which led to the upward revision of the tariffs, notwithstanding what the government and the Malta Resources Authority say, was not transparent as it should be. The lack of information that led to the announcement of the new tariffs give rise a lot of questions. Then the MRA stated that it had revised the tariffs given by the government/Enemalta and reduced them by some e7 million. How can we say if this was true or not since the information was not disclosed from the very beginning? I believe we are being taken for a ride and the lack of transparency confirms this further.

It is a fact that Enemalta has massive financial problems and now with the extension or the building of the new power station, it will make things worse. I firmly believe that through the tariffs the government is seeking to collect as much as possible to make up for these financial problems. In so doing, families and industry will continue to experience difficulties. At a time where the economy is facing a number of difficulties it is certainly not advisable to increase these tariffs and include inefficiencies and other costs as well.

Our competitiveness will suffer badly and the problems being experienced by the Malta Enterprise will definitely not help to attract foreign investment. This agency lacks a vision and since its inception in 2004 the direction it wishes to pursue has yet to be established. I sincerely hope that in the coming year all this will change for better, nonetheless, I still have my doubts.

L-Istrina

At the time of writing, the results obtained during this year’s Strina were still unknown. However, I am convinced that whatever the outcome, this year Strina will prove to be a success. A success in the sense that the new impetus given by the President was very positive. There were a number of other activities that were organised prior to this year’s Strina. These saw the participation of a considerable number of people. Additionally, the fact that no gifts were handed out was another wise decision. We have to rediscover the pleasure of giving without expecting something in return. In spite of all the social services, there are people who still need the help of others when certain circumstances unexpectedly reach them. The Community Chest Fund is an institution that if adequately utilised can be of help to many.

The current President and his hard-working staff are working on restructuring the Community Chest Fund and are adopting clearer policies on how to help people in need. In the past some questions were raised on how some funds were utilised.

I wish the President and the First lady together with his staff and all their families all the very best for the New Year and may they succeed in their sterling work that they are doing.

2010 – Year of the General Election?

Some people are already speculating that next year the Prime Minister will call an early election. These speculations started after what happened in the last sitting before the Christmas holidays. Personally, I don’t believe that the PN will call an early election. To the contrary they will do whatever it takes to remain in power till the very end. However, this does not mean that the PN parliamentary group is not divided or is living as one happy family. In the present circumstances what we need is a government which is focused on the needs of the country. At present we have a Prime Minister who spends half of his time trying to keep together his parliamentary group.

Finally, I would like to wish you and your family all the best for the New Year 2010.

Carmelo Abela

Deputy Speaker and

Labour main spokesperson for industry and foreign investment

Email: [email protected]