Poverty 'coming back'

General Workers' Union general secretary Tony Zarb yesterday painted a bleak future for the country, saying that declining GDP and rising inflation meant that poverty was making an unwelcome return.

Mr Zarb told the pensioners' section general conference that the union must continue to defend workers and offer them shelter.

It was everyone's duty, he said, to safeguard and preserve what had been built over the years especially since the people running the country tried to give the impression that all was well.

Figures confirmed that this was not the case for Malta's gross domestic product between January and March this year, which was down by 5.9 per cent compared with -0.9 per cent in the same period last year. This put Malta in the worst position among EU countries.

And while GDP was going down, the cost of living and inflation were rising. The cost of living last month, Mr Zarb said, was up by 2.94 per cent - and that figure excluded the increased fuel cost.

On pensions reform, Mr Zarb said the union had submitted its own clear and credible proposals based on social justice. Anomalies must be stamped out, he said.

Mr Zarb also pointed out that the cost of medicine was rising daily but the government was doing nothing about the situation.