Gatt denies having 'lied' in parliament

Infrastructure minister Austin Gatt has denied he lied to Parliament when he replied to a parliamentary question in December on the sewage tax.

Replying to the charge made yesterday by Labour leader Joseph Muscat, Dr Gatt said he had been asked by Labour MP Anton Refalo whether the Maltese government was “bound to impose a tax” and he had replied that the only Maltese government that had wanted to tax the people on sewerage was the government which he had formed part of.

Dr Gatt said every one of those words was true. And it was worth remembering that the Sant government had wanted to introduce that tax without building any new sewage treatment plants.

Furthermore, the question was about a tax, whereas the EU directive spoke about a tariff, which was different.