Regardless of what the Government says or how much Minister Miriam Dalli tries to reassure us, the increase in administrative fees announced by the Beverage Container Refund Scheme (BCRS) for beverage importers and producers appears to once again be a burden that consumers will have to bear, the Nationalist Party said Friday.
The increases affect all beverage containers - whether plastic, glass, aluminium, or steel - including water, with every pack of water set to see a price increase of six cents. The new fees vary depending on whether the product is locally produced or imported, with rates increasing by 54% in the case of certain glass bottles and by as much as 143% for aluminium containers.
Many anticipate that this new charge - justified as an "adjustment" to cover the ever-rising costs of the bottle collection and recycling system - will lead to price increases for these products. Consumers, who are already paying more per bottle since the introduction of the BCRS scheme, will bear the brunt of this increase, the PN said.
While the additional 10 cents will continue to be refunded via BCRS machines, this new increase does not appear to be subject to the same refund, and the Government has yet to clarify exactly what will happen from 1 February when these changes come into effect.
The only thing we know is that, in a Facebook post, Minister Miriam Dalli blamed the private sector, stating that the Government is not responsible for these increases, but rather the private operator running the system. The Minister also tried to reassure us that this increase has nothing to do with the bottle deposit system paid by consumers and is not a new tax, the PN said.
Regardless of who is responsible - whether the Government or BCRS - it was the government that signed the contract with the scheme's private operator. One must therefore ask whether the agreement allows them to increase prices whenever they choose.
Dalli also stated that she is not satisfied with the level of service provided by BCRS operators and that consumers should be treated with greater respect and efficiency, the PN said.
However, the Minister's complaints and dissatisfaction will not lead us anywhere. The public expects nothing less than a guarantee from Minister Dalli and the Government that prices will not increase - nothing more, nothing less.
What the Government must do is ensure that the cost of living does not continue to rise and that consumers do not keep carrying the burden of continuous price increases on the essential products they consume daily, the PN said.
Government always chooses consumers, PL says
The Nationalist Party is persisting in lies when it speaks of a new tax related to beverage bottles. The government has not introduced any new tax, the Labour Party said in reply..
If the Nationalist Party wants to talk about the cost of living, it has to remember what it chose to do about the stability scheme. When the government was negotiating the stability scheme, which the party said played an important role in curbing inflation, the PN spoke for importers and not for the consumer. The government has chosen the consumer.
On energy subsidies, the Nationalist Party speaks out to please the European Union and those who want to curb aid and not on behalf of the consumer. The government has chosen the consumer, the PL said..
Also in this case, and as it had already clarified well before the Nationalist Party came up with its partisan and populist rhetoric that it does not have the truth, the Government had already made it very clear that it would be insisting that in this case also the consumer would be better valued. Even if a similar scheme is an obligation for all European Union countries, the Government will see and demand that the consumer enjoys more respect and better service.
The Government has always been on the side of the people, the PL said.
The only change in the tax regime was the reduction introduced in January, so that Maltese workers pay less taxes, the PL said.