“Families are going to be badly hit by these tariffs and as such people will have less money in their pockets. This fact alone already creates a problem for the economy. In this difficult period the government’s first choice and priority should have been to help families and the business community.”

In the last days the government finally made public the water and electricity tariffs that had to be into force as from the first day of this year. So now it is official and the Legal Notice was published. So, supposedly the government is expecting that the business community, and particularly those companies which are mainly export oriented, will adjust their prices and costs accordingly. Of course it is too late now since things are not done this way. It was already late when in October or November last year the government announced its intentions to impose higher water and electricity tariffs. It was late at that time, not only because the details were not known, but also because these companies have a work ethic which is far better than that of the present administration. These companies have to plan well ahead and they committed themselves to prices way before the New Year started.

There is also the other side of the coin. Supposedly the government is consulting the social partners about the water and electricity tariffs. This is so because the social partners agreed among themselves and asked the government to consult them before implementing these higher tariffs. The so-called consultation process is still going on while the new tariffs have been finalised and as such made public. So the question is, what kind of consultation is this? What are the social partners expecting to achieve with these talks when the government already decided about the issue? Of course I do appreciate the work and the tenacity of these social partners but I have my doubts on whether they are going to manage to convince the government to do a U-turn on the matter.

When I asked the Minister to say in Parliament whether there were companies which approached the government about the negative impact of these bills, he admitted that unofficially there were companies which were preoccupied. But the Minister continued that these did not inform him that they were going to shed workers. It was announced in this year’s budget that the government voted thousands of euros to those companies which will encounter difficulties with these higher water and electricity tariffs. I think that it would have been much better for the economy, for the sake of competitiveness and for the public coffers if these higher tariffs were not introduced in the first place, rather than allocating funds to help those that encounter difficulties.

Families are going to be badly hit by these tariffs and as such people will have less money in their pockets. This fact alone already creates a problem for the economy. In this difficult period the government’s first choice and priority should have been to help families and the business community. Other countries did not increase these tariffs since they understood that it was not the moment. The Maltese government should have done the same.

After the grilling

Our Commissioner-designate Minister John Dalli passed his test at the European Parliament, during the hearing that he had about his portfolio for Health and Consumer Policy. Of course I do wish him well in his new adventure. I also wish that we Maltese will benefit in practice from directives and European legislation regarding consumer affairs. However it is up to the Maltese government to do so. With regard to the health sector most of us know about the problems that the Maltese are encountering when they get in touch with the public sector. The highly mentioned waiting lists for different operations are just one aspect. This should be unacceptable. We should be proud of our dedicated staff, however it should be unheard of to have patients on a waiting list for more than a year, two or three years. Quality of life will not be achieved with these kind of time frames. Also, from a medical point of view things will only get worse. As John Dalli rightly said during his hearing at the European Parliament, money should not be a barrier and people should be treated equally. In this regard the Maltese government needs to work more and is expected to find ways and means to give better service to the Maltese people who seek public health services.

PL’s motion in Parliament bears fruit

A fortnight ago the Labour Party (PL) presented a motion on the right to legal assistance during police interrogation. This law was approved by Parliament more than seven years ago. However it was never put into force by the Minister for Justice. Until some days ago the same minister stated that it was not possible to put it into effect. However things changed as soon as Michael Falzon and Jose` Herrera presented this motion in Parliament. Prime Minister Gonzi ordered his minister to issue a Legal Notice to put this provision into effect. I do not know what happened in such a short time, however my guess is that the Prime Minister was not comfortable with a debate in Parliament about this legal aid since he does not seem sure of his parliamentary majority.

Carmelo Abela

Deputy Speaker &

Labour Main Spokesperson for Industry and Foreign Investment

Email: info@

carmeloabela.org