Still not facing reality

The editorial of October 26 stated: "Now that the public has been brought face to face with the reality of the oil price situation..."

The statement is misleading. The public is still not facing the full reality of the oil price situation because it is politically expedient for the government to keep the public in the dark.

The government does not want Joe Public to say: "If I were told the truth that in reality I should be paying another Lm400 per annum for my water, electricity and petrol, I would have committed myself to a smaller mortgage, I would have bought a smaller car and I would not have installed air conditioners in every room. I relied on the information you gave me and now I see that you misled me".

What we are seeing today is the continuation of the Eddie Fenech Adami legacy. He did not want the electorate to face reality. The Maltese public was never made aware of the full reality of the EU or the full reality of the public deficit or the full reality of the increasing cost of living without the matching increases in productivity or the full reality of the fakeness of the "feel good factor" fabricated by his administration.

The PN administration does not deal in reality. A good example is the facelift being given to the roads that CHOGM dignitaries will use. These roads were good enough for Joe Public for 18 years. Now it has been decided to spend badly needed funds to avoid these visitors from seeing the reality that is Malta.

Lawrence Gonzi rightly speaks about the ingenuity of the Maltese and their ability to face adversity. The irony of it all is that the PN has stifled ingenuity by pouring money into the economy to buy votes. If the PN told the truth about the state of the economy and aligned government decisions with the real state of the economy then the Maltese would have used their ingenuity and followed the principle of necessity being the mother of invention.

Lacking the political guts to face their past blunders head on, the government is making the situation worse by tinkering with surcharges and taxes, here and there. The net result is that (a) the lower income consumer will subsidise the wasteful higher income consumer and (b) the laws of economics are not allowed to work in an unadulterated way.

Louis Deguara, on October 28, wrote: "Those who buy goods or services should pay fully for them". He is right, they should. So why didn't his government ask all the owners of gas guzzling boats and cars, heated swimming pools, fully air conditioned or centrally heated villas with saunas and electricity guzzling gadgets, to pay fully for the fuel they used over the past 18 years. Why is the government waiting for another two years to get people to fully pay for what they consume? (Social cases and Cabinet ministers excepted.)

Dr Deguara describes his colleagues as "A focused government with a clear vision ready to take courageous but necessary decisions, having confidence in itself and the people". If his idea of clarity, courage and confidence is Austin Gatt's 55 per cent surcharge explanation to the House of Representatives, then no wonder we are in such a mess. If his idea of vision is waiting for an oil crisis before promoting alternative energy, then I presume that the GM on ministers' car licence plates stands for Grand Myopia.

PN sympathisers and Dr Deguara bore us with the history of what Dr Sant did when crude oil was $12 a barrel. They ignore the fact that when crude oil was at $12 a barrel Malta already had enormous holes in its finances thanks to the PN government. Now crude oil is at $60 per barrel and Malta has even bigger holes in its finances that are growing bigger everyday.

The bottom line is that one Euro statistic after another emerges showing Malta at the bottom of the heap. Irrespective of what Dr Gonzi says, the public debt is still increasing, which in turn makes balancing every year's finances even more difficult. When the economy grows it is stunted growth which means that we have joined a club where we will be the poor members for decades to come. As Olie would say to Stan: "It's another fine mess you've got me into"!