The past legislature has made me cross paths with numerous pensioners who are reasonably disgruntled from suffering years of injustice. These people are carrying such a weight which makes them conscious of the impact it has on their lives and dignity.

You can feel their frustration, and one can easily understand this when you are being denied what you are due. The more you learn on the matter, the more you realise the strength of the case that these pensioners have. Thousands of them had their rights breached due to a law which was enacted in 1979 under then Prime Minister Dom Mintoff. The consequences of Mintoff's decision, which are being borne to date, deny a service pension to those have given a service to Maltese society. Mintoff's excuse for such decision was that no person should be entitled for more than one job. This excuse held no water as these people are entitled to a social contribution pension and service pension as they have contributed to both.

The subject pensioners of my article (known as tas-Servizz) includes; those who left their Government employment to work in the private sector and those who were paid by the British Government who are similar to civil service employees but whose wages were paid by the British Government. These workers numbered in the thousands and hence developed into a substantial problem as soon as the British left Malta. These also included physicians and professionals who left their country to work for the Maltese Government.

In the meantime, no Maltese Government has developed a solution for this injustice with pensioners which is in place with this notorious law.

I would like to take this opportunity to recognise the National Association of Service Pensioners (NASP) which is an association composed of impacted pensioners and which was founded about 10 years ago. There is also the British Civil Service Association, which is another association which comprises thousands of members and which had influenced then Labour Leader Dr Alfred Sant to find a remedy for this law, and was proposed in the Labour electoral manifesto of 1996. While Dr Alfred Sant had understood their concern, history shows that he had little time to work on the proposal due to a short-lived Government of 22 months.

It was former Prime Minister Dr Lawrence Gonzi who understood and put into practice action in favour of those pensioners who had been robbed since 1979. For the first time, this category of pensioners could see the light at the end of the tunnel since they had the first Prime Minister who recognized their pleas. This recognition developed into an adjustment of LM 200. Some of the pensioners had already passed away by then and these pensioners were not really compensated in comparison to what they were entitled to in fact. Due to the economic recession, after the adoption of the Euro, the LM200 remained €200, which dealt yet another blow to an already modest adjustment. In fact, following pressure, former Minister of Finance Edward Scicluna, had clearly stated that about a €40 million budget would be needed to address this injustice. Following years of abuse of public funds, I am only compelled to ask, are we going to be continue denying the rights of these pensioners?

Just about six years ago, the NASP took their case to Brussels in front of the European Parliament, where they asked for the arrears and extended their plea to the Attorney General, and later the Court of Justice of the European Union. Both these entities expressed an opinion which favours NASP, whose opinion is based on European legislation.

These pensioners are still fighting for their rights to this very day. Justice can only be served if they are given their dues together with all arrears. Only then, would we have a Government who listens in practice and who understands pensioners, especially those amongst them who are experiencing poverty.

In fact, one of these pensioners informed me that more than €50,000 have been denied to date.

Is this how we are rewarding pensioners who were in service for our country? Have we found no portion of the famous surplus which could be used to settle dues with these pensioners? Given the allocation of many thousands of Euros for direct orders to the select few gluttons, could we possibly leave out citizens who are suffering from injustices created by their own country?

This is the worst form of discrimination which is being ignored from whom should lead by example. This approach by the Government is notwithstanding its pompous projection as a defender of pensioners.

We need a solution to remedy the discrimination and injustices carried out by our country since 1979. I am more than certain that should the Nationalist Party be entrusted with governing, a new Nationalist Government will differ itself from its predecessor and will not be parking this problem.