Friday, 5th September 2008

Government accused of failing to protect consumers

The government has no plan to address the problem of the cost of living at a time when it has reached record heights, the Labour Party's spokesman for consumer protection, Silvio Parnis, said.

The government has failed drastically in terms of consumer protection, he insisted. This emerged clearly when Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi could not give a date for the setting up of the authority for consumer protection, which is meant to replace the National Euro Changeover Committee. Mr Parnis said Dr Gonzi had promised it would be set up last March. This was clearly another electoral promise by the PN that would not be kept.

He questioned what had become of the NECC employees and how many were still working for the committee.

At a time when the consumer is facing record increases in the prices of the most basic products, the government has failed to reappoint the Consumer Affairs Council and the medicines prices surveillance board has not met for over a year, Mr Parnis claimed.

Previous article • 4,000 suffer from dementia
Next article • Pre-school treat for young filmgoers

Article © Allied Newspapers Ltd., printed on Saturday, November 21, 2009. This article is for personal use only, and should not be distributed.

Comments

Carl Pol (on 5/9/08)

Malta still functions like an old eastern bloc country when it comes to wages with a central government controlling the wage market and unions who go hand in hand with the employers and the government in their yearly assessment of wage increase. In my opinion the working population and those on social benefits should enjoy a wage increase equivalent to the inflation rate like other democracies in europe. And if the government fails to deliver the so called unions should take a hard stand to make sure their members get what is due to them.