Reginald Fava, the medicines importer and former president of the Chamber of Commerce, has told MaltaToday the crucial price-freezing agreement over medicinals had never been discussed in the council of the Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise – an important plank on which government has secured stabled prices ahead of the general elections.
Fava, who is the president emeritus of the Chamber and also a council member of the same Chamber, told MaltaToday: “May I assure the public in general as an elected council member of this institution, that this most important matter was at no point discussed at council level, let alone agreed to.”
Fava has already declared in a televised interview during the PBS programme Reporter that the prices of medicines would definitely rise after the freeze is lifted in March 2008.
The Chamber of Commerce later issued a statement disassociating itself from the comments of the former president. “Mr Reginald Fava certainly spoke in his own capacity… it is simply the choice of companies to sign up to or not and the reason for signing up can be varied. It could be the company’s commitment to a smooth euro changeover and it could also be part of the company’s business strategy.”
But Fava has categorically stated his opposition to the agreement. “I certainly do not expect the Chamber’s president Victor A. Galea to agree with me when he happened to be one of the signatories to the agreement to freeze prices for a period of time.
“However I insist that a price freeze whether imposed or agreed, is a price freeze and as such goes against the very principles which the Chamber of Commerce of and Enterprise stands for.”
Not renowned to mince words, Fava went on to say: “I cannot understand how the President can on the one hand defend an agreement to freeze prices signed voluntarily between a group of importers and on the other hand conclude in his press release by saying ‘The Chamber is a firm believer in the role that free market forces play in establishing prices’.”
And reacting to the Malta Chamber of SMEs (GRTU), who also took Reginald Fava to task over his comments on Reporter on the Pharmacy of Your Choice scheme, Fava yesterday repeated what he said recently in The Times: “I did say in the past and shall keep on saying in the future that the remuneration accepted by the GRTU and Chamber of Pharmacists of Lm8.00 gross (€18.64) which equates to Lm5.20 (€12.11) net of tax, per patient per year is pathetic and I feel proud that I made such a statement.
“Any lay person with a measure of common sense does realise the triviality of such meagre compensation to a professional rendering such an important service to the community. However, it is evident that the GRTU expects us to accept this pittance with open arms and say ‘thank you’ while doing so.
“I am indeed convinced, and most probably so is the public at large, that the GRTU accepted this pathetic remuneration because ‘patients needs come first’. I am really touched and most certainly so are you all.”
Labour leader Alfred Sant has also said he will extend the agreement further if elected in government, to monitor any further increases in prices through a price monitoring watchdog.