Friday, 4th July 2008 - 19:37CET
Muscat accused of 'hypocrisy' over surcharge
The Infrastructure Ministry this evening accused Labour leader Joseph Muscat of political hypocrisy for having claimed that no consultation had taken place before the surcharge was raised.
The ministry said the surcharge was raised in terms of a formula agreed with the social partners in 2005 and nothing had changed.
Dr Muscat earlier today wrote to the social partners asking them for their suggestions and views on how Malta should tackle high energy costs. He also criticized the government for not consulting anyone before the surcharge was raised (see separate story).
The ministry also explained that were it not for forward buying, consumers would now be charged a surcharge of 140 percent. Thanks to forward buying, the surcharge should be 115 percent, but government subsidies had scaled that back to 95 percent.
The ministry said Enemalta had forward buying contracts running into next year at an oil price which is 40 percent lower than the current oil price. But these were definite contracts, and once they expired and new ones were negotiated, oil prices would still be rising.
The ministry said it was disgusted by the hypocrisy of the Labour Party which was acting like it did not know that oil prices were rising at an alarming rate.
While the MLP was arguing against raising the surcharge, the fact was that subsidies still had to be funded by the people’s taxes. And whereas everybody was required to pay taxes, the surcharge and the power tariffs were charged according to how much one consumed.
While Dr Muscat was pretending that consultation with him could make a difference to anybody, the government was reiterating its commitment to conduct the same extensive consultation before revising the tariffs as it had done before introducing the surcharge, the ministry said.
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Comments
You are so wrong about my age, dear Fiona. I am 36 yrs old. When I refer to JM as the kid, I am pointing out and referring to his immaturity. He is acting like an immature kid, and this should come as no surprise, considering that in his life, he did not work where it counts, i.e. the private sector or the effective parts of the public sector.
He only worked with Labour masters at SUper 1, and the only bits of jobs he got were from his labour bosses, who gave the kid something to do to fill his time (or fill up his cv considering that he calculated his moves along the way).
I am not that easily impressed, and I am sure that were he to attend at a real and serious professional job interview, where people are not easily impressed by any bluff, he would be shown the door as soon as he opens his mouth.
How about some simple Arithmetical Facts VS `Hypocrisy`...
Surcharge up to end of June = 50%
Surcharge from July 1st, 2008 = 95%
RESULT = (50% X 190% = 95%).. AN INCREASE OF 190% OVER THAT OF JUNE, 2008.
By the way.... Didn`t i read of a Supposed (!!) increase figure of 115%....????!!!!????!!!!
HYPOCRISY......!!!!!!! ..... OH....... WELLLLLL......... To save space, take a look at what GonziPN used to assure US Maltese voters, prior to March 8th elections, and also at the GonziPN electoral manifesto, on this subject...!!!!!
CONCLUSION.. The longer someone CLEARLY and PUBLICLY explains the said famous `2005 FORMULA` agreed with the Social Partners of THAT TIME, the MORE SUSPICIOUS i keep on getting, about the genuineness of this ASTRONOMICAL TAX, and above all, to whom i should really point my `HYPOCRITICAL` finger to..........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
`BALLEC` GUYS.......... WHO`S TAKING WHOM FOR A RIDE....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I cannot believe this!!!!
Why do you think Dr Muscat wants to meet the social partners???? To get to know them????? Huh? Any idea why? Oooooh! Maybe because he WANTS to "propose alternatives to what the government is doing so the public gets the benefit of political debate between different directions. " after "asking them for their suggestions and views on how Malta should tackle high energy costs. ". OOOOOOH!!! So that is WHY!!! WOW!!!!!!!!
Reading your comment, you know what I said: No wonder PN frantics keep on election after election keep voting PN!!!!!! Even things so simple semm too hard to understand. Well ....
"3. To propose alternatives to what the government is doing so the public gets the benefit of political debate between different directions. "
Exactly dear Fiona. But as yet I have not heard that Dr Muscat has proposed even one small alternative to Government's decisions. So before he should start demanding consultation from governemnt for everything, maybe he should explain to us what he would have done if he was the Prime Minister. Would he have implemented Alfred Sant's propsals? Would he have halved the surcharge. And if yes, how would he have met the shortfall in revenue.
Why is the MLP always behind in having any ideas. When the White paper on rent reform was published last week, some TV station interviewed Dr Bountempo, the MLP spokesman on housing, and he said that the MLP has no position and they still have to study the situation.
Say what? Hey guys, 3 months ago there was an election and you said you were ready to govern.
Get credible and start offering alternatives.
@Joseph zammit....i agree with you to make our homes more energy efficient.......how about the government starting helping by eliminating any taxes and VAT on enerygy saving equipment, roof panels, etc......and maybe why not even help in aiding people change windows to double glazing thus saving more energy..
@ Mr. Gaffarena.....why are you asking JM to lay down the facts....so when you want you tell labour to give is real facts and when labour offers a helping hand they are turned away......remember the dockyard...i am still waiting for the government to meet with labour...
Yes this is of national interest and both government and opposition should meet with all concerned to see what can be done and not turn this problem into a political ball......
If you are calling Dr Muscat "the kid", I am assuming you are old of age, if you allow me to guess that!! And so, maybe you are too old to understand how the government system should actually work, and ironically enough, all you need is Dr Muscat to show you in practice!!! Guess what ... he is exactly doing what you have said: sticking to his role!!!! To save you time looking it up, please read hereunder a few tips of what the role o the opposition leader should be:
1. To keep a close eye and ear on what the public needs and wants because problems are often caused by a Government not delivering.
2. To constantly question the Government so as to keep him answerable to the public at all times, and a good Opposition can put the spotlight on serious issues and have them resolved quickly.
3. To propose alternatives to what the government is doing so the public gets the benefit of political debate between different directions.
To frantic Borg Cardona: Dr Muscat is inexperienced only at sitting back and criticizing ... he is doing & delivering as he always did!!
Come on, let us be a real new labour, and what is whilte we cannot say it is black.This is a situation of national interest, so lets be united on this issue and try to find a solution
The kid is becoming a real nuisance with all his theoretical acts of big headedness. His political immaturity is quite evident. Apparently he is surrounded by yes people, and nobody has the guts to explain to him what his role is.
Let Government at least try to decrease reliance on oil by giving as a truely effective transport system.
I really don’t understand the moaning too, yeah I get it we have to pay more, so find a solution and turn your house / business to more energy efficient. The Government is not our Parent he is there to run a Country, It’s an Enterprise and we the citizens are its shareholders. When will we get that? We have options to go abroad and find energy solutions to fit our homes and business but you can even find these here locally. Bloody act on it don’t let the government spoon feed you to do it.
People grow up and face reality, this is no surcharge this is a utility bill and we have to pay it. Don’t moan about it find a solution, but maybe I m too of a liberal thinking kind of guy or!!!!
DEAR MINISTER...... WOULD IT BE TOO MUCH OF A `HASSLE`, IF YOU PLEASE, PUBLISH FOR ALL OF US `IMSIEKEN, GA MIKULIN BIT-TAXXI SA RUH OMMNA`, THESE FAMOUS..."..TERMS OF A F..O..R..M..U..L..A.. AGREED WITH THE SOCIAL PARTNERS IN 2005..".....????????????????????????????
UNFORTUNATELY, I THINK THAT WE ARE BEING CONSIDERED AND TREATED TOO MUCH AS IGNORANT AND STUPID CITIZENS WHEN IT COMES TO CERTAIN POLITICIANS, IN THE LIKES OF DR. AUSTIN GATT.........
HATS OFF FOR YOUR STYLE OF GETTING THINGS DONE, BUT PLEASE SOME RESPECT IN YOUR VOCABULARY, AND TO THE MALTESE CITIZEN AT LARGE, WOULD NOT HURT A BIT........ RIGHT MR. MINISTER.....????
As an unofficial (?) spokesperson for the Nationalist Party, it is you who, at every opportunity, are always instigating the demonisation of anything emanating from the Labour Party. Irrespective of any mechanism established by the social partners in the past for calculating the surcharge, it is amply clear to all (except you and some other PN apologists ) that the hefty increase this time is so extraordinary that its ripple effect on Malta's economic well-being, the standard of living and the operating costs of any commercial enterprise will be devastating. Surely it would have been so much wiser to consult and discuss these effects with all the social partners rather than an arrogant imposition in the the minister's typical bulldozer approach. If you cannot see this you must have both eyes closed behind your blue blinkers.
By calling Joseph Muscat hypocrate he is indirectly accusing the social partners too because they all criticised the government for not consulting them.
Minister Gatt ..yes ..could sound like an i know all person but in my opinion when it come to making things happen he gets full marks ....
Think about how much money we at home saved when we download papers - past exam papers from the internet, when we had to buy them at exagerated prices
If it were not for minister gatt Malta would not be in the forefront in IT - this is one reason why smart city chose Malta to invest .
Minister Gatt made it happen when he pushed for all Government department data to be on line. - he deserves credit for this .
As for MLP leader ....I wonder how Labour would have tackled the promised half surcharge if mlp won the elections.
Which social services would be sacrificed to make up for this. MLP like to demand explanations .
I also Demand Dr.Muscat to stop staying Gallarija and explain what measures would have been taken to make up for rising fuel costs - naqilbu ghal Faham forsi? or invest in a nuclear power station?