Utility tariffs ‘unpopular but sustain energy supply’ – Fenech
Finance Minister Tonio Fenech yesterday said the General Workers Union had expressed support for the government’s budgetary aid measures against the effects of the hike in oil prices.
The ministry was reacting to the GWU’s stand on the Opposition’s defeated motion to cancel the government’s legal notice on the new utility tariffs, and the demonstration it led against the new tariffs.
“The GWU participated in the MCESD meetings that discussed this €10 million package in aid measures for consumers and industry... now it seems the union has jumped on the Opposition’s bandwagon to protest against this same initiative. Ironically, it asked for another MCESD meeting to be held, for which it later did not attend,” the minister said.
Fenech added that the GWU’s stand was for government not to act responsibly in the light of the international pressures on energy prices. “Like the Opposition, it suggests that government should subsidise wastage. The union knows that for this to be possible, taxes must be increased or the country’s national debt must increase with the risk that it falls in the similar untenable situation of neighbouring states,” the minister said in a veiled reference to the economic troubles haunting Greece.
Fenech said the government would keep on taking “unpopular decisions that safeguard the country’s interest” in a bid to render the country’s energy supply and finances sustainable, attract investment and create jobs.
Muscat delivers YouTube reaction
Labour leader Joseph Muscat yesterday broadcast his reaction to the parliamentary vote on Monday’s defeated motion on the utility tariffs via YouTube, and denounced the tariffs as fruit of the government’s incompetence.
“As politicians we had to choose to be either on the side of families and businesses, or on the side of those who want to burden the country because of their incompetence. We chose to be on the side of families,” Muscat said.
The Opposition leader said that people who voted for Lawrence Gonzi “cannot understand the administration”.
“We are in a situation where the tariffs the government has voted for are even higher than those in October 2008 when the price of oil was even higher, over $100 a barrel. When the government wants, it has the money – it had €21 million for Dar Malta, €53 million for the compensation of bus drivers, and it lost €40 million on two ships at the Malta Shipyards.”
Muscat said that Labour had suggested how government could save €15 million on the way bills are formulated. “We gave the government a chance to change direction and Gonzi did not take it. Now the only chance is for people to vote out the government in the next election.”
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