Cynthia Busuttil
Facing challenges may hurt a little, Gonzi warns
"Caution needs to be exercised as the changes would affect people".
Just weeks ahead of Budget Day, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday the country should not fear challenges but change what needs to be changed even though that might "hurt a little".
"Let us bite the bullet," he said before adding that caution needs to be exercised as the changes would "affect people".
He was speaking during a business breakfast organised by the Nationalist Party in the run-up to Independence Day and probably short of a month away from the budget.
Although ambiguous, throughout his closing speech Dr Gonzi said the boat may need some rocking, while referring to oil prices and the credit crunch as threats to the economy. "It would be irresponsible to think in terms of not rocking the boat," he said.
At a similar business breakfast on the environment on Tuesday he also insisted that a strategic decision on sustainable development is needed but that it would come "at a price".
The emphasis on the financial challenges, which jars with the pre-electoral promises of substantial income tax cuts by this budget, effectively comes in the wake of troubling statistics that signal a ballooning budget deficit.
Dr Gonzi yesterday reiterated his electoral pledge of retaining stipends, saying this was not a political gimmick because stipends were reaping results.
He underlined the importance of going for family-friendly measures to increase employment participation, especially among women who want to work while taking care of their family. But there was no direct mention of the income tax cuts.
The director general of the Malta Employers' Association, Joe Farrugia said employers support family-friendly measures so long as they do not disrupt production, adding that customised solutions are preferable to across-the-board measures.
He referred to inflation, which he described as a threat to employment, stressing that salary increases should reflect productivity rather than inflation.
He referred to what he termed as a series of challenges facing employers and listed the lack of certain skills, including in the tourism, IT and health sectors, and the poor knowledge of English even among University graduates who sometimes struggle to compile reports.
On the other side of the fence, the General Workers' Union's general secretary, Tony Zarb said unions were facing great difficulties to get pay increases for their members.
Mr Zarb mentioned the exploitation of immigrants, both legal and illegal, something that was also detrimental to Maltese workers. He added that the union would be launching its position on the issue in the coming days.
On this point, Mr Farrugia pointed out that the small gap between social benefits and the minimum wage could be keeping people away from legal employment and also encouraging the black market. He stressed the importance of education and ongoing training in order to increase the number of skilled workers and help job mobility.
Malta Enterprise chairman Alan Camilleri said a road map, plotting the skills that industry will be needing in the coming years, was a must. He said Malta was facing tough competition from Baltic and Eastern European countries that were trying to attract industries which had set up shop in Malta.
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I. M. Dingli
Sep 12th 2008, 09:25
Joseph E. Briffa : I know that, my comment was actually a plea to Dr. Gonzi to see to the ever increasing problem of social benefits. In my opinion, this particular issue is draining considerably our coffers and in many cases the receiving end is not as genuine as it tries to show.
D.Galea
Sep 12th 2008, 08:36
In short this means, Let brace ourselves!
S.Sammut
Sep 11th 2008, 20:32
Keep to your electoral promise dear Prime Minister. We EXPECT a decrease in income tax rates. That was a solemn promise which might have got you elected albeit with a film size majority over the Opposition party but with an electoral MINORITY. No unequivocal excuses. Your comrade Mr Fenech had said that promises are not entrenched in stone and so is your legitimacy in government!! If the economy is so gooooooooooooooooooood there is nothing to impede you from keeping to your promise re income tax bands. And if you want more women to come out and work do a rigorous means test to assess why with all fiscal incentives many women still opt to stay at home whilst declaring a meagre earning from their self employed husbands. That will be the day that Social Justice sees the light of the day. Unlike you and most of the other MP's we lesser mortals have to go out to work and so do our spouses, probably seek other partime jobs to make ends meet and we are taxed to the very last cent we earn being salaried employees. That entails a lot of sacrifices from our families.
Shaun Camilleri
Sep 11th 2008, 20:16
A track I used to listen to when I was younger went like
"clowns I spot em and I can't stop laughing"
And hahaha is this verse true!!! I'm soo glad I saw this coming in March.
For all of you who were proud of their imperfect turning to perfect DNA. It is now time to suck it up and bang on your chests while chanting "Culpa Mia"!!
Joseph E Briffa
Sep 11th 2008, 17:27
I.M. Dingli..what are people all over the world working for except to cover the payments you mention? 90% of the workers in this world earn just enough money to meet the payments you mention. The rest manage to put something aside because they enjoy higher salaries and therefore they have a better quality of life. As I said the average -paid worker lives from hand to mouth. It is only the very few who command high salaries which enable them to live comfortably off and to indulge in luxuries. Your statement is no revelation I am afraid.
joe borg
Sep 11th 2008, 17:21
But this is not what our dear GonziPN had promised prior to 8Mar2008????? But why on earth, has it always got to be us, the working people, to foot the bill??????? any PN apologists around or is it hibernating season???????? OMG OMG
F J Brincat
Sep 11th 2008, 16:54
“boat needs rocking a little”
changes would “affect people”
“hurt a little”
“sustainable development is needed but that it would come "at a price"”
I do not wish to sound pessimistic, but this doesn’t sound very rosy to me. As a people, some of us have been hurting “a little” for a good while now and most of us were expecting some sort of tangible assurance that things were going to change for the better.
Now it is sounding like things will be getting worse before they get better.
It’s all very nice saying that we are strong and need to face these issues as a challenge, or an opportunity, but for some people, making ends meet at the end of the month IS the challenge we personally face. It’s not a lot of fun.
I am saving less and less every year. I seem to work only to pay insurances, taxes, fuel and utility bills. With what is left, I have to buy food and pay the bank loans. I can’t believe that is just me – nor would it be any consolation if it wasn’t just me either.
dbugeja
Sep 11th 2008, 16:37
We are already biting the bullet Dr Gonzi.
Maybe theGWU and UHM should speak out about the problem of illegal immigrants who have become a heavy burden on the maltese taxpayers.
Now the election has passed and all the good promises are vanished. now we are being warned for hurtful challenges. Such hyprocite political. I think the citizens are much more intelligent than these politicians think we are.
We are already hurting with the cost of living, oil prices and illegal immigrants. we cant take no more.
David Bonello
Sep 11th 2008, 16:20
But surely if the economy has grown by 3% and should keep on growing, then why are we still having to face so many challenges? Surely we should be living in some sort of rosy Utopia and thanking our lucky stars for all the gid which the par idejn sodi ta Gonzi have brought us!
Muscat Peter
Sep 11th 2008, 16:06
It's true that Gonzi is well poised.
The hand is ready to slap us in the face again and again. Gonzipn has become Gonzi-ouch! Those who saw paradise coming, please now enjoy the "hurt that must come" according to Lonzu.
What??!! I thought we had enough hurt already!
I. M. Dingli
Sep 11th 2008, 15:39
Dr. Gonzi, could you please cut back a bit on the monetary social benefits unless they are proven genuine? I’m a bit fed up of working just for the benefit of paying my home loan, car loan, bills, insurances, subsistence (bare minimum; but that is also an excuse not to go fat), etc….. thank you in advance for your interest in the matter!
Josephine Cassar
Sep 11th 2008, 14:14
I hope this does not include the extra 9million Euro we have to fork out for the the yards besides the deficit and their debt. Besides Dr. Sladden from ETC, we should have had officials from the Vat department and Inland Revenue, where abuse is rampant, We have had intolerable increases, so we are expecting the PM to keep his word and not tax us more when those who can afford it, are getting away with it all the time. No excuse please with such rampant abuse and non-collection of dues.
louise vella
Sep 11th 2008, 14:06
In another news item the PN announced its 6 candidates for the election to the European Parliament next year. Last time they were disappointed because they won only 2 out of 5 seats. This time they may have 20 candidates. If Gonzi maintains his obstinate refusal to take the right protective and defensive measures against illegal immigration, the PN won't win even one MEP in 2009.
Joanne Micallef
Sep 11th 2008, 13:59
So now just months after the PN won the elections because of the rosy future they forecasted Ghalik u ghal uliedek, after telling us that Flimkien kollox possibli and there was absolutely nothing to worry about, the MLP are simply exaggerating in their negative forecasts, the country is doing really really well and our Finanzi are fis-sod. So much so that Dr Gonzi assured us that the money he so conveniently threw away in the past budget was because we are now reaping the fruits of the past ( in between elections that is ) harsh measures we citizens had to endure.
Stop insulting our intelligence Dr Gonzi and simply admit that this government has lied through its teeth in order to get re elected.
V Fenech
Sep 11th 2008, 13:15
Growing thorns throughout the Rebbiegha Gdida!!!
M.Vella
Sep 11th 2008, 13:12
Nice photo. Hand well poised and smile confident. Youth in background. Well done.
Tanya Briffa
Sep 11th 2008, 13:12
The PM's warning is very encouraging - I'm really looking forward to the future now! It's always us, the community, who get the warning. It would be nice to hear him say "I'm taking a serious commitment to look into government's expenses" or "look at alternate ways for the govt. to make money" for once. Let's squeeze the nation and continue wrecking the economy - instead of making good on our electoral promises and giving it a boost. This reminds me of when the textile industry was still alive and kicking 30 odd years ago - the bottom line would be looking gloomy so the machine operators would be squeezed some more to increase production and spend less time in the bathrooms - whilst management ran round in brand new company cars. It's just the way of the world I guess...
L Galea
Sep 11th 2008, 12:25
Why doesn't Mr pair of strong hands start by giving a practical example and reduce his own salary?
Hamish Dempster
Sep 11th 2008, 12:03
I cannot understand Dr Gonzi's remarks by way of "hurting us a little bit," when his party has been hurting us for the last 15 years or so.
apgrech
Sep 11th 2008, 11:05
We've been hearing about facing changes and to sacrifice and to tighten the belt for ages. When are we going to start "living"?
The message of the PM reads: "Fellows, we are in a mess, we can't get out of it, be prepared for a tough budget".
The boat has been rocking for so long we're all getting sick, Dr Gonzi. Please stay there for another year and then call an election
Joseph E Briffa
Sep 11th 2008, 10:58
I agree that we should try our best to improve the standard of English in this country. Besides being one of the official languages, it is a fact that without a good working knowledge of English there is no chance of our students making any headway in the EU.. Moreover as we all know any book on any subject under the sun is written in English; hence the vital importance of a good command of English. In fact in Malta we always equated the level of education of a student with his/her command of the English language. We are lucky to be brought up in a place where the knowledge of English has always been considered as one of the mainstays of our education. Unfortunately, during the past four decades the use and study of English has not been emphasised enough and more impetus has been given to Maltese with the result that the level of English has gone down, while that of Maltese has hardly improved at all despite the long school hours dedicated to the latter. The Matsec results bear this out. The level of English especially in state schools is abysmal.
Marvin Mizzi
Sep 11th 2008, 10:22
It is easier now talking of difficult decision just months after the election and years before the coming. The nice words before the election have now dissapeared with the harsh truth realty. But was the PM before the elections not aware of the signs that where present in all the world on high oil prices, credit crunch etc, or was he just making electoral promises to win the elections. If he goes against the elector programe he would be cheating the electorate and that is unfair. We are not telling goverment to be irresposible and just splash out but to be serious. If the goverment does not want this country to stagnate he needs to give some fresh air and spending power and definetly the amend of tax bends and giving more spending power would be one of the ways. The PN in goverment was always capable to move this country forward lets hope that this time round would not let us down and do the same.
g scerri
Sep 11th 2008, 10:08
"Let us bite the bullet" the PM is reported to have said. Who does he intend by "us"?
Stephen Farrugia
Sep 11th 2008, 10:02
Something is really wrong in this country. The key issues are ignored-like the pipe from Libya to Italy. Tunisia, for the same agreement get 70 million dollars a year for the pipe and we get nothing. Budget problem solved.
louise vella
Sep 11th 2008, 09:47
For Dr Gonzi illegal immigration is a non-problem and does not even get a mention: when it does it is in terms of holy platitudes.
Luckily, though, "Mr Zarb mentioned the exploitation of immigrants, both legal and illegal, something that was also detrimental to Maltese workers. He added that the union would be launching its position on the issue in the coming days." As well it might. The more illegal the immigrants are, the lower the wages and conditions of work they will accept and the more competition they present to Maltese workers and their hard-earned conditions.