Monday, 19th May 2008
Talking Point
Toll for traditional bread
Times do change. The Sunday press made not a single reference to the week's developments on Maltese bread. The papers continued with their running commentary on the goings on in the MLP leadership race. Further grist was provided to that mill by the way Alfred Sant snatched at the opportunity given to him by the Nationalists to speak one more time as leader of the opposition. The environment attracted its usual share of attention. A probing finger was poked at the lingering cloud over MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando pending the predictable outcome of a police investigation over the Mistra supposedly unconsummated affair.
But, there was no comment about the fact that the market in traditional Maltese bread has been liberalised and that as from today the price of the loaf is to jump up once again. That silence is a reflection of a socio-economic reality: The Malta loaf is no longer a widespread part of the staple diet of the Maltese people. Some families do not even know what the traditional ħobża looks or tastes like. Even working class consumers appear to use fewer bread loaves nowadays. Certainly, one does not see individuals buying bread by the sackful anymore.
That is not to say that bread has lost all of its importance. There remain many thousands of families to whom it is a basic part of their daily intake. Liberalising the market and again lifting control on the price of bread may have seemed inevitable to the government. There will be many who do not quite see it that way. To them the rise in that input to the daily cost of living will be far more significant than to others who go for fancy bread or no bread at all. Those so affected will wait with interest to see how the government will fulfil its undertaking to assist lower income families who will be affected by the rise in the price of bread. Others, whose cost of living is rising in other areas under the remorseless pressure of soaring global food prices, will also wait to see whether the authorities will extend assistance in that regard as well.
On a broader basis, employees and employers will wonder whether the anticipated €2.33 per week statutory increase given from January 1 will be ignored when the next increase is reckoned on the basis of the September cost-of-living data. Incomes and personal circumstances aside, higher bread prices - which could accelerate - raise another question: Will the traditional ħobża die out before we know it?
The threat is there, in the form of changing eating habits and in the impact of higher cost on those with lower incomes. It is a threat to an interesting part of our identity. The government, in announcing the liberalisation of the bread market through the Finance Minister, indicated its awareness of the threat. Better be alert now than to allow the death knell to toll, and then try to take belated remedial action. The French have been through such an experience with their baguette.
We should not go down that road with our ħobża. It may not be as important as who will be the next leader of the MLP, continuing threats to the environment, Mistra discos and what not. That is not to say it does not remain very important. The ħobża may no longer be the daily bread of all of Malta. It does and should remain a key part of Malta.
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Comments
Is it really wiser that consumer should be made to pay the true coast of a loaf of bread? Sound a bit cruel for me having a family of five members with 3 kids included.
@K Caruana
fairly speaking – the issue was spoken about before March 8 (but very briefly) – so, its us to be blamed for not reading between lines.
@John Schembri
You are correct - The bakers association should organise seminars to its members on how to manage their businesses …… and we (consumer and citizens) must re consider our needs.
@Kamal Awad
You are ‘WRONG’ but - are you? – during the week end nothing was mentioned in the media over this issue – VODKA I’ve deciphered the code – Now I have got your coded point -good sense of humor.hihihi
You're welcome! (Don't mention it)
You must have taken my advice.
Bar Politics – Actually the subject heading (alone) rings bells and provide a solid starting point for various core issues.
I just quote few lines:
- The Sunday press made not a single reference to the week's developments on Maltese bread.
- There remain many thousands of families to whom it is a basic part of their daily intake.
- To them the rise in that input to the daily cost of living will be far more significant than to others who go for fancy bread or no bread at all.
I am still scratching my head….where did I get (the middle class families '.) from??
It must be the effect of the bad Vodka I had last Saturday night mela!
By the way the Vodka wasn’t mentioned in the article either.
Good day and thank you for your comment -:)
If you followed what the NP was saying before and during the election, at every meeting 'taht it-tinda' as well as mass meetings, you would have heard the Prime Minister, each time, raise the price of oil and the cereals issue in no uncertain terms. Secondly, by sheer coincidence, the price of flour shot through the roof two weeks after the election and although Malta did not experience sharp increases then, they are filtering through right now and, unfortunately, will continue in the near future. There is nothing the Government or the Opposition can do about it since we depend on importing this commodity.
With regards to the compensation for previous ministers or MPs who failed to be elected, I agree in principle although I do not know the finer details of this plan. The reasons are as follows:
1. Although we are generally cynical about how much work our MPs (of either side) and Ministers do, the truth is that the majority would rather work Mondays to Fridays with a three week annual vacation, give and take some, receive out paycheque and generally speaking stop thinking about work the moment we punch out. Talk to MPs and they will tell you that aside of their Parliamentary duties, they receive dozens of invitations each year for weddings, birthdays, graduations, births and other occasions (funerals as well) and most do not dare not respond and/or attend unless their constituent is offended.
2. Getting some sort of a safety net in case of defeat at the polls after having served in some cases four or five terms, will encourage better quality people to stand for election.
3. Most countries have a 'pension' system whereby an MP or Minister will automatically qualify for a pension after ten years of service to the nation. When the pension is paid depends on a formula based on years of Parliamentary service and the age at which the MP retires or is defeated at the polls.
So, in essence Malta is gradually catching up with policies which have been in existence elsewhere for decades. I can tell you that our MPs would be embarrassed to state their salaries to foreign MPs, their pay being so low!
@ Kamal Awad
I suggest you have a double.
I believe the subject is the price of bread and subsidies. If I recall, bread is consumed by all classes, whether low, middle or higher. Why you bring up the topic of 'the middle class'. The price of food is increasing rapidly not only in Malta but throughout the world. I hope you do not like rice too much, but in case you do, you had better stock up at today's prices because next month you will probably pay twice as much, if you find it at all.
What is really amazing is that, many people still cannot accept the fact that a crucial global resource is irreplaceable – disappear of middle class is looming and securing daily necessitates will soon be a no easy deal (irrelevant of wallets thickness ).
Let me go and have some VODKA!
Thank you Mr. Spiteri – I do value your talking point.
Subsidies have always been abused and sometimes siphoned by businesses .Subsidised bread is being sold in restaurants and hotels .
We were subsidising the tourist industry and some hotels had to send tourists to SICILY due to irresponsible overbooking!
We were subsidising diesel so that boat owners would go out for fun rides on weekends in the summer.
We were subsidising kerosene so that it can heat up whole villas , for use in the printing industry and its use as fuel for buses.
The same goes with electricity. How many of us are not switching off appliances when we are not using them ? The water heater is a glaring example , and the use of air conditioners running full on with a window or a door left open.
Gone are the days when government propagandists stupidly used to boast that we had a record maximum demand of electricity . They were encouraging waste, because electrical power was subsidised.
Poor taxpayers were subsidising people who could afford an air-conditioner.
I suggest that the more one wastes the more surcharge one has to pay ,and vice versa , and the ones who really cannot afford are helped up to a certain consumption threshold .
The bakers association should organise seminars to its members on how to manage their businesses more efficiently and how best they can use their ovens. Perhaps the university can help in this .
I somehow agree with much of what you wrote.
The only sad thing about this is that such arguments have never been brought to the attention of the Maltese electorate before March 8th.
The MLP and most especially the PN were much more altruistic then. Just have a look at the electoral programmes of both parties!
Also, I think that you have forgot to mention one particular issue:
Do you believe that the compensation which Dr Gonzi is planning for those who lost their ministerial role makes economic sense at this stage?
Regards
KC
Dr. Spiteri wrote in favour of the Maltese loaf and rightly pointed out that it, ' is a basic part of our daily intake'. However, I do not buy the argument that the higher cost of the hobza may prevent lower income families to abandon it for an alternative. Many well-to-doers prefer the hobza and I suspect that Lino is one of them too.
The price of flour is up not only for the Maltese hobza but for the vast variety of other breads as well. The liberalization of the bread market will simply bring the cost of the Maltese hobza in line with other varieties. The preservation of the hobza through government subsidies has proved in the recent past that it was not good enough, anyway. The bakers were not happy with controls, the public thought the subsidies were not high enough while, for years, the government has walked a tight rope on this issue.
The government subsidizes energy costs, transportation and other services. Did I say government? Wrong! The government does not create money - the money it gives away in different forms, including subsidies, is the public's money which it collects through various taxes.
It would be much wiser if the consumers are made to pay the true costs of a loaf of bread, the true cost of electricity and water and at the same time lower the taxes so that they will have more money in their pockets to pay for higher costs.
Low income families have already been helped through various social measures including the increase of children's allowances. A responsible government has to know when to stop being over generous especially if an initiative no longer makes economic sense.