Labour calls for surcharge reduction

The Labour Party yesterday called on the government to lower the surcharge on utilities and exempt more people from paying it.

MPs Marie Louise Coleiro Preca and Silvio Parnis, spokesmen for social solidarity and the elderly respectively, said they expected the government to heed the people's plight in this budget.

More people, especially families and elderly people burdened by illnesses, should be incorporated in the surcharge-free zone so that they would be able to lead a more dignified life, they argued.

The government should address these issues if it really wanted to tackle social exclusion and poverty, Mrs Coleiro Preca and Mr Parnis said.