MLP leader calls on transport operators not to strike

Labour leader Joseph Muscat has appealed to the Transport Federation not to stage its promised strike as this would cause hardship to the people and not to the government.

Addressing a crowd in Mosta as part of a series of meetings Niltaqa' Magħkom, which the new leader is having in all localities in Malta and Gozo, Dr Muscat also appealed to the government not to be too proud and to discuss the issue with the federation so that consumers may not suffer.

"This is the kind of politics our country is thirsty for. We want this matter solved for the benefit of consumers. (Transport Minister) Austin Gatt goes to work in his car; it is consumers who use the bus," Dr Muscat said to applause.

He said it was not true that he was defending monopolies, as the minister had accused him of doing. He also challenged Dr Gatt to say where he had defended monopolies.

"At a time when the Nationalist government was defending monopolies, it was Joseph Muscat, who, in the European Parliament, fought against them.

"The MLP policy on the sector is clear. There should be liberalisation wherever the consumer is not well served. The consumer has to be the focus of everything." The problem was that, before the election, the government had promised hearse operators the opposite.

The MLP wanted the matter solved and party spokesman Joe Mizzi had on Saturday called both the federation and the minister offering assistance to get both parties around the table to talk.

Dr Muscat said there had been positive signs over the past week and Labour wanted to see how they would develop. Giving an example, he said the Prime Minister agreed on the need for talks to strengthen democracy but he (Dr Muscat) believed that, while these talks should be held within the Parliamentary structure, they should not be limited to Parliament. One should also listen to what Alternattiva Demokratika had to say in talks on party financing and the electoral law, for example. Employers and trade unions could also have suggestions to offer.

Dr Muscat said it was positive to note that the government was taking part in the launch of the Mediterranean Union.

He welcomed the Malta Employers' Association's warning to the government to go about the privatisation of the shipyards wisely in order to ensure that the country got the best possible price. The shipyard should not be criticised so that it would be sold for peanuts. Labour wanted the best possible future for the shipyards and it could be that the government was finally listening.

He referred to the recent issue whereby Labour and the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises - GRTU called on the government to reduce excise duty on fuel and the government argued that this was set on volume not on price and that, at 0.33 per cent, the rate in Malta was the lowest permissible by the EU as from 2009.

Dr Muscat said the government could reduce the rate because it would become compulsory by the EU only in another year-and-a-half. Moreover, there was an EU debate led by France and Italy for the rules regulating this issue to become more flexible. And although the Finance Minister was arguing that Malta was one of the least taxed countries in Europe, the European Commission was saying that Malta could no longer be considered a low-taxed country.

The National Projects Minister had recently argued that, in spite of the increase in surcharge, Malta's diesel and electricity rates were still the cheapest in Europe. The minister, however, forgot to compare Maltese wages with European ones.

The minister was also wrong when he said that alternative energy would not be cheaper. As expert Edward Mallia said in a letter to The Times, this was a sweeping statement.

Dr Muscat noted that, while Dr Gatt had said that a social impact assessment had been made before the increase in surcharge, the Prime Minister was saying this was in process. This showed that Dr Gatt had misled Parliament.