Protecting the consumer

Charles Micallef wrote (February 25) that the one way system of doing business prevails (you pay my price as I know you have not got any choice) where the "chosen few" of our monopolies are allowed to hold the consumer to ransom, with the blessing of one and all.

A small correction please, not with the blessing of one and all, certainly not with the blessing of the Consumers' Association. But the crux of the matter is, in a civilised and democratic society, what can we do about it?

The members of the association council are giving some of their spare time as volunteers to try and stop the consumer from being abused. It's an uphill battle all the way, with hardly any support both from the consumer and the authorities.

The consumer can write a protest letter to the newspaper of his choice. Mr Micallef did at least take the trouble to do that but will it be effective? Will anybody who is somebody take any notice?

The consumer can retaliate by not buying LP gas. Not very practical but it would be very effective.

The consumer (or his association) can try and organise a protest march in Valletta. It would be risky and could flop regarding attendance but could be effective.

The consumer can become a member of the Consumers' Association by paying a membership fee of Lm1 or 50c for pensioners so that when we have meetings with the authorities we can show that we have thousands of members who are willing to protest against these kind of abuses. Other than this, we would welcome the comments of consumers who read The Times.

The consumer can hold his breath until May 1 when Malta joins the European Union and then we can hope that the Consumers' Association will get more support from the European Commission to see what can be done to stop the consumer from being abused.