Video: Gatt explains revised tariffs

Michael Gatt

Oct 25th 2008, 14:28

Its useless crying over split milk. This is the small majority that wrongly voted for this government. The pity is that we have to suffer with them

P.Schembri

Oct 25th 2008, 11:38

@J.Farrugia. Nobody is going against KMPG calculations. It has done its work on data the Government gave it. Considerations of garages, summer residence, workshops and even boathouses,were all taken into account. No the real households. Labour based its calculations on the 2005 census of households. That's why there is a big difference.

Maria Dolores Fenech

Oct 25th 2008, 08:55

@ C Sapiano
What are you suggesting that now we shall go living back to when we had no computers etc to save electricity?

One question to Min. A Gatt
If the SME are going to pay for these tariffs, surely the SME will not deduct these new expenses from their profits will they? Of course not! It is THE CUSTOMERS WILL PAY! So it is we who will pay after all!

V Fenech

Oct 25th 2008, 08:13

Is this the same Minister who laughed at the unions when they mentioned a Green Policy??

E. Azzopardi

Oct 24th 2008, 09:50

So what have we done during the last twenty years as regards alternative energy? It is only that we have woken up it seems. Had we done something about it we would not be in this situation. Denmark, ( Denmark - this is very north of Europe mind you with much less sun) already has 10% of its total energy derived from alternative one. In the next ten years they want to put it up to 50%. I suppose it is better late then never. Lateral thinking and Smart Island my foot.

C.Sapiano

Oct 24th 2008, 09:00

Why is it that people always grumble. We have got used to every luxury (eating out, going abroad...) and now we grumble. Certain people live beyond their means, and then they pretend that everything is free.

Joe Galea

Oct 24th 2008, 08:51

@Charles Camilleri: We are living in the present and we know what is the present state of facts. All what you are asking are just futile suppositions!! Come back to reality!!

Austin Gatt and GonziPn are just taking people for a ride. They have done their current plans before actually imposing them. They started by firing excessive tariffs and then supposedly lowering them, which is a psychological game, so that now we will have all the PN Apologists hailing them as the heroes of this country. This government has brought this country on the edge of a precipice, next move is to push it into oblivion.

Well done gonziPN, very good timing to raise tariffs and ncrese costs, when we are facing hard economical times. Really brilliant management!!

Joseph Schembri

Oct 24th 2008, 08:19

Now the more important question - will my meager pay rise to accommodate these new tariffs? Paying is not a problem when you have the money ...

J Farrugia

Oct 24th 2008, 08:16

The figures given by the MLP were correct. So said some oracle. Does this mean that KPMG blasted astronomical figures? This means that this reputable firm is in cahoots with the Minister??? Why not labour tell us WHO WERE the advisers who worked the new tariffs that the MLP is showing??

Patrick Cassar Trigona

Oct 24th 2008, 08:16

Dr Gatt can you please explain why the quarter of the population that have been paying 95% surcharge instead of 75% all these months have been blessed with an increase in tariffs instead of a decrease when global oil prices have fallen and appear to remain this way for some time in the current global economic climate,how can you justify this.

Joseph Mangion

Oct 24th 2008, 08:11

When are we gonna stage real protests, like the ones we see happen in France for every little price change in fuel??? When is some union with courage or some organisation going to organize this. We have been lied to, and cheated to, and are being ripped off.
Why don't we independently come together and stop this injustice!!
WE HAVE A CHOICE
WE HAVE OUR RIGHTS
WE HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND FREEDOM TO PROTEST.

J.Borg

Oct 24th 2008, 06:48

@ Mr.Charles Camillerri

Then whats the use of having an MCESD - it was installed for dialogue and discussion not just for presentations.

Nigel Lawrence

Oct 24th 2008, 05:14

Excuse me, but isn't this selective (discriminatory) capping ILLEGAL in the EU. Or is it yet another one of Gonzi's pick and choose rules?

Joseph Attard

Oct 24th 2008, 01:05

Calculator decisions are very easy to take. What government has decided to day will go down in history for such a small nation.
The Government has only decreased the total sum by Euros 60 million. Any other suggestions or mitigation plans have been thrown down the drain. Only irresponsible governments act in this way.
What can I say......Austin doesit his way......Ill do it my way.........Im not paying a cent more then the current tariffs and the 75% surcharge I should be paying and beyond that every two months Ill calculate the surcharge and pay accordingly. Im doing exactly what Minister Tonio Fenech well stated " paying my dues" , and that only. (Im not paying any of Kevin s, )

In coming up with these proposals Dr Austin Gatt is just being economical with the truth, thus conveying an untrue version of what is exactly going on at Enemalta by leaving out important facts!
Ill tell you all what Vision 2015 is for Enemalta.! It means they have to pay a loan of Euros 210 million taken in 2005 by a bullet payment of Euro 210 million on 22nd June 2015.........as they say...so easy to take loans others will pay!

Louis Gialanze

Oct 23rd 2008, 23:46

Exactly why do small businesses have to pay for the heavy consumer is mind boggling.
The GRTU has a lot of explaining to do and since the situation is most unfair on the self employed Vince Farrugia is duty bound to call his members down to the streets.
These tariffs go against the spirit of the EU policy for encouraging more people to become entrepreneurs as detailed in the Small Business Act and adopted by the commission on the 25th June 2008.

Kevin Borg

Oct 23rd 2008, 22:17

@ Philip Attard

Rightly said.

IZDA QABEL TOQTLU TRID TARA LI HEMM MINN JAF JIEKLU

M. Grech

Oct 23rd 2008, 22:09

Ohhh what a relief with these tariffs!. The usual game, rocket-sky taxes or price adjustments are released. As expected people do complain and just to make us feel better, a portion is swallowed back. What a favor. Thank you very much. Wow what a relief!

A Abela

Oct 23rd 2008, 21:57

So now we have it. The figures published by MLP were correct. They were not invented Dr Oracle Pio Gatt. Gibtuna tajjeb. ara tergux tigu ghal vot

manuel micallef

Oct 23rd 2008, 21:56

In my work I speak with a lot of people;

Many ordinary citizens are shocked - but not only shocked - I sense that many are starting to be afraid of what is going to happen with loss of jobs etc.

I honestly think that this government has lost all bearings to increase tariffs in such a sensitive time - during international depression.

D.Galea

Oct 23rd 2008, 21:52

Problem-Reaction-Solution, very convenient. Oh except that as it's being shown here, many people ARE able to see beyond this & understand the game here, yet I wonder whether such plan has been played out in a way so that opposing parties would welcome it as acceptable outcome still having fulfilled the agenda which was planned in the first place.

Michael Spiteri

Oct 23rd 2008, 21:35

So the honest citizen has to pay for those who cheat the system and steal electricity. B’Gonzi fil-gvern mohhok mistrieh.

PHILIP ATTARD

Oct 23rd 2008, 21:19

"MINN SEMMNU L-QASQUZ IRRID JOQTLU"

Noel Cutajar

Oct 23rd 2008, 21:15

This whole system reminds me of Robin Hood...rob the poor to give to the rich!!

Noel Cutajar

Oct 23rd 2008, 21:14

So the increase quoted by the report of the MLP is not far from the truth!!

Kevin Borg

Oct 23rd 2008, 20:58

This video clip leaves one without words. The goverment is not an accountant that has to balance the books at all cost. These tariffs will continue to add to the already disproportionate burden the middle class is carrying. Some may argue I am being a classist but this is the plain truth. Aproximately one forthe of the population, 30,000 families will not be paying the full increase. The other one forth are so well of they will not even notice the increase. The rest are the middle class trying to make ends meet and paying for the rest.

Dr.Gatt should know better how things should be done. Schemes helping those who wish to invest in alternative energy should have also been issued as part of the reform in the tarrifs. The way these tariffs have been introduced show that there was no serious evaluation of the whole picture. The important issue was to balance the books of Enemalta which after all is another dockyard the goverment is trying to protect. How come that with prices of oil going down and economies barely growing we are facing this increase? SHAME ON YOU DR. GATT AND TIME WILL TELL WHO IS RIGHT

Tony Borg

Oct 23rd 2008, 20:58

Why should a small hotel pay more to subsidise the bigger hotels? This is not cross subsidisation but a subsidy to your direct competitors.

Mark Piscopo

Oct 23rd 2008, 20:46

These final revised tariffs would be of a drastic pain to all Maltese people. My family and I will not afford this increase. We were betrayed before the election.

V Sammut

Oct 23rd 2008, 20:43

Excellent politics. First fire exaggerated figures. Shock the people. Then when you get the reaction, lower the figures a little bit (but still way ahead of the present rates and still taxing on the consumers) and the people will really believe that the Government has given in and is actually reducing the rates!! When probably the latter figures would have been the original figures in the first place. But in this way the Minister is actually going to be even thanked for "lowering" the rates!! Physcology at its best.

Loris Calleja

Oct 23rd 2008, 20:19

THE BULLDOZER STRIKES AGAIN! When will Dr Gonzi rein in this runaway cowboy??!! His style may be admired by a few party die-hards but the great majority think that he will single handedly do more damage to Malta and the Maltese than any other minister ever did.

A Camilleri

Oct 23rd 2008, 20:18

That's a very shrewed move by Dr Gatt. MEA, MHRA and other business organisation reps wanted to retain the capping to the detriment of all other consumers. The proposal retains the capping with its costs shared by the commercial sector rather than spilling on to the private consumers! Very well done Dr Gatt. A real chess move. GRTU shot themselves in the foot. Would they prefer to do away with the capping now?

I Abela

Oct 23rd 2008, 20:17

@ Karl Abela - WRONG, that is absolutely not fair enough as 16c1 would still amount to over 200% surcharge. And what if you exceed 2000 units? What is the rate then? I would presume it would be higher. So basically Dr. Gatt's proposals are still far from optimal. When will you take off your BLUE sunglasses and see things for what they really are?

Charles Camilleri

Oct 23rd 2008, 20:15

@ J. Borg Do you think that a future labour Govt. will consume so much time to consult the social partners?

Paul Barrett

Oct 23rd 2008, 20:11

I do wish that they had "explained" the new tariffs in a language which people could understand - from the article it is impossible to say what the starting point is.
What we want to know is the actual price we will have to pay i.e.,

Units 1 to 2000 = ? Old cost: = ? New cost = ?
Units 2001 plus = ? Old cost = ? New cost = ?
Meter Rent. Old cost = ? New cost = ?

It is only when these hard figures are laid out that people can actually understand and see how they are going to manage.

What we also want (at least I do) is to have my meter read and then get a bill for what I have used. The current guesstimates with changing prices in the middle of the billing period is downright unethical and if anyone has tried to phone in the true readings they will know that they will get told to "just pay what you want" on the estimate bill but they will not adjust the readings and send you an accurate bill - at least for me the would not.

Christian Zammit

Oct 23rd 2008, 19:52

I thought that the SMEs were the backbone of the maltese economy. Why are they going to have to pay the electricity bills of the larger companies? Why should a small hotel pay in proportion more electricity than one 5 star hotel? Does this make sense??

If the government wants to help out these enterprises it should get the money from being more efficient not from the family run business!

M Camilleri

Oct 23rd 2008, 19:38

This must be one of those few instances where Austin Gatt backs down on anything. But probably that would have been the plan from day one. First shock and awe the population with unrealistic prices so that when he backs down, anything less is accepted with a sigh of relief. I hope the unions will resist this one

Karl Abela

Oct 23rd 2008, 19:28

Fair enough, Dr Gatt.

Now lets put the off shore wind farms and oil exploration programs on our priority list.

J.Borg

Oct 23rd 2008, 19:12

Why do the social partners attend MCESD meetings.......they should boycott it ....over the way they are treated.....
Either you agree with me or I go ahead just the same.......a pure sense of dialogue with social partners....
What happened to the slogan....Flimkien Kollox Possibli.......
it's time this changed to ............ Wahedna Kollox Possibli