NEWS | Wednesday, 24 December 2008

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Prime Minister ‘playing for time’ on tariffs – Labour

The Labour party yesterday called on Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi to pluck up courage and repeal the hiked utility bills, accusing him of “playing for time”.
The PL was referring to a letter sent to 11 unions, after they demanded to return to consultations with the prime minister over the recent increase in utility bills, enacted two weeks ago and dated retroactively to October.
The PL accused the prime minister of squeezing families and businesses to make up for his inefficiencies.
“While stating the tariffs would change again in the coming months, Lawrence Gonzi is still trying to take as much money as possible from families and businesses with these retroactively dated bills. This shows his government does not want to pass on the decrease in the price of oil immediately to families and businesses. Instead, he wants to wait until the European Parliament elections in a bid to take political advantage,” the PL said.
In his letter to the unions, Gonzi said the government would not object if the unions sought clarifications from the Malta Resources Authority about utility tariffs.
On 10 December, the 11 unions wrote to the prime minister calling for a meeting to continue discussing the water and electricity rates. In their letter they had said that their studies indicated that the scheme the government was proposing would exclude a substantial number of persons from reduced rates. They included those who lived on their own and who, in their majority, were pensioners, widows and widowers.
The letter was signed by the Malta Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, the Malta Union of Teachers, the General Workers Union, the Union of Cabin Crew, the Union Haddiema Bank Centrali, the Union Technical and Clerical Mepa, the Union Professjonisti Awtoritá ghall-Ambjent u Ppjanar, the University of Malta Academic Staff Association, the Airline Pilots Association, the Union Periti u Inginiera Servizz Pubbliku and the Association of Airline Engineers.
In his reply to the unions, the Prime Minister said the water and electricity tariffs reflected the expenses made by Enemalta, including the price of fuel.
Gonzi also reminded the unions about the revised prices of petrol and diesel, adding that the next tariff revision due would also reflect the changes from the total budget.
Gonzi added that the changes to the tariffs will have to be approved by the Malta Resources Authority, as the regulator.
“It’s just as well that Lawrence Gonzi has realized that in a European country, any citizen or constituted body has the right to demand information from the regulator, with or without the Prime Minister’s permission,” the PL said.
“The reality is that in his letter, Gonzi did not address one single issue or discrepancy raised by the 11 unions. The PL will be taking all necessary steps to ensure government takes responsibility for its decisions.”

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