Perpetrating myths about water

By now, we should all know that 30,000 households are exempted from paying the surcharge on their electricity and water bills. This "fact" has been drummed into our heads ad nauseum. Given that the average Maltese household comprises 2.7 persons, the "30,000 households" statement would imply that some 81,000 citizens are actually benefitting from this exemption. It has now been revealed that there are only 29,569 persons benefitting from this exemption (October 21). So why does the Prime Minister continue to perpetrate the "30,000 households" myth when this is completely incorrect?

A few weeks ago the government announced a 12-month moratorium for new borehole permits. This implies that the Malta Resources Authority (under the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs) will not be issuing any permits for the drilling of boreholes for the extraction of groundwater during the next year. However, the fact of the matter is that since it was set up in 2003, the Malta Resources Authority has never issued a permit for the drilling of a borehole for groundwater extraction.

So in reality, the moratorium is superfluous as there never was the possibility of anyone getting a permit to drill a borehole anyway. If the government is serious in tackling illegal groundwater extraction, it should have taken immediate action on the thousands of existing boreholes sucking our aquifers dry as I write.

It is about time that the government stops playing petty propaganda games that insult our intelligence, and focuses on addressing the very serious problems facing this country today.