Cynthia Busuttil
Gatt 'lied' to Parliament over sewage tax - Muscat
Labour leader Joseph Muscat yesterday accused Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt of lying in Parliament earlier this year when he dismissed the suggestion that the government could tax people on sewage.
Dr Gatt was asked last December whether the government will have to levy a tax for the operation of the sewage purification plant in Gozo, and his reply was that "the only Maltese government to tax people on drainage was a Labour one".
Last month, however, the Minister admitted that consumers would have to pay for sewage expenses as from 2009.
"You're a liar. You had the audacity to lie to the country's highest institution. How can we trust you on anything else?" the Labour leader asked.
He even accused the Prime Minister of not having the courage to announce the new tax himself, reiterating the title he has been giving Dr Gatt in the past weeks: Malta's second Prime Minister.
Dr Muscat was addressing the closing session of the party's extraordinary general conference which approved a new statute that introduces a series of reforms, including renaming the party as Partit Laburista, abbreviated to PL, a change to the party's emblem that retains the torch and allowing party members to choose the next leader. The conference also approved the dissolution of the Vigilance and Discipline Board and the Labour Brigade, which will be replaced by a Social Democratic Foundation known as Ideat, and the lowering of the age threshold for members to 16.
In a one-and-a-half hour speech, Dr Muscat ran through a long list of items currently on the national agenda.
He criticised the recent proposal to replace the existing Għadira road with one that cuts through the back of the Danish village and the nature reserve, highlighting the fact that there are no studies to support this plan.
The main target of his criticism, again, was Dr Gatt, whom he lambasted for dismissing the worries of the Danish village operators by saying that they could easily sell the place.
"What's this, what's this arrogance with foreign investors who have shown they have faith in Malta?" he said.
He stressed that Dr Gatt had a viable option to choose from, which would not require a new road to be built and which his own experts had suggested, takes the form of an Irish Bridge - an elevated road over the existing one behind the beach.
"We encourage the minister to consider this option, as long as he does not want to go with the other alternative as a favour to someone," he said, while stressing that there are more pressing traffic-related projects like the Kappara junction to devote the money to.
Touching on the controversial e-mail sent by PN general secretary Paul Borg asking for ministers to pass on to the party any complaints they receive, Dr Muscat confirmed that the information had mistakenly been sent to Labour's general secretary Jason Micallef instead of the parliamentary secretary Jason Azzopardi.
"The offers and telephone calls asking us not to release the information were useless. You will not buy us," Dr Muscat said, threatening that if the government does not take steps to appoint a new Data Protection Commissioner in the coming days, he would have to give more information about the "web of espionage".
Yesterday morning, in fact, the Prime Minister announced that he had invited Dr Muscat over for talks about the matter which has been pending for almost four months after the previous commissioner Paul Mifsud Cremona died aged 65.
Dr Muscat also turned his guns again at the energy bills debacle, saying that after the recently announced revisions, the new rates went down from the equivalent of 194 per cent surcharge to 185 per cent. In reality, given the current going rate of oil, they should go down to 65 per cent, he maintained.
The Labour leader also asked how the authorities could privatise Malta's gas operations without first agreeing on the price of gas. The Opposition has been on the government's back for months over the matter, claiming that the price of gas could even triple.
The privatisation, in fact, took place last week and when the Finance Minister was asked about the expected rise in price, he said the government was willing to help families in need.
But here too, Dr Muscat said handing out vouchers was a caricature of social justice.
While on the theme, he referred to a recent court ruling which ordered the Health Department pay a patient just over €74,000 in damages after it established that a life-saving operation which he had undergone abroad should have been paid for by the national health service.
Dr Muscat said he had long been calling on the government to set out a clear policy on the treatment of Maltese people abroad. He said the court ruling, which the department will be appealing, set a very important precedent.
The policy should also establish the maximum waiting times for operations, he said, adding that if the state was not able to respect those criteria it should arrange for the surgery to be carried out elsewhere. Leaving a patient waiting for an operation was taxing psychologically and not just financially.
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lgalea
Dec 1st 2008, 16:51
C Cassar
First you have a Data Protection Commissioner, then you give him/her the information so that it may not be known beforehand and tampered with.
anthony muscat inglott
Dec 1st 2008, 14:22
It is amazing here in malta .
In mumbai - india after all those tragic events two ministers of the goverment offered their resignation despite that they were not involved in these events , but they offered their resignation simply cause their departments in question where not able to stop these events from happening .
In malta our minister austin gatt , after all these incredible events , didn't have the decency to hand in his resignation although his department in question did variuos obscene acts that he was responsible to stop them from happening .
Funnily enough , not even the prime minister had the guts to stop him . He did even worst , cause he is defending him right way through . The more the prime minister keeps on defending him , the more he shoots down more his credibility and integrity .
SHAME ON YOU BOTH !!!
J Martinelli
Dec 1st 2008, 13:47
Dr. Muscat, threats never end up in compromise. If you have any evidence of 'a web of espionage', and you are willing to keep it to yourself 'provided only that the government appoints a new Data Protection Commissioner', you make it sound like blackmail.
If I am not mistaken, was it not Dr. Gonzi who suggested that the two of you get together (in consultation) so that a decision can be made in this regard?
As usual, you are playing to the gallery and Dr. Gonzi has no time to play games. He should go ahead and appoint a new Data Protection Commissioner of his own choice, like him/her or not!
g.sinagra
Dec 1st 2008, 13:37
for Dr.Muscat to give information about the ''web of espionage'' should be unconditional.
P.Schembri
Dec 1st 2008, 13:24
@C.Cassar. As usual you PN apologists twist the statements to your own ends. Joseph Muscat was talking about the email that was sent erroneously to Jason Micallef. There were phone calls so that the email won't be made public. That was what Joseph Muscat was talking about. Check it out yourself, and listen to his speech, and you'll see if it's not true about what I'm telling you.
Joe Grima
Dec 1st 2008, 13:04
Joseph Muscat has amply passed his test as to whether he will make an effective Leader of the MLP who can bring a positive change to altese Politics. It is evident that that is not where his problem lies. His serious, real problem is that he remains surrounded by rotting remnants of the Sant regime who had had taken control of vital areas within the Party. These areas have now become no-go areas also for Joseph.
In his speech yesterday he hinted at some of them with apparent sympathy. For the seasoned political observer Joseph was exposing the problem to the General Conference as Mintoff used to do when he needed power to his elbow. Joseph mentioned One TV, where control is absolute and where that control is definitely not his. The overall impression that unchanging One TV gives is that of a hard-line, uncompromising narrow approach, diamertrically opposed to the spirit of the Party Joseph projects. That approach will continue to keep thinking voters away.
Change is brought about by people not statutes. Joseph needs to emarginate obstructive elements within vital Party areas if he is to guarantee the implementation of his vision for all. He has no choice.
Muscat Peter
Dec 1st 2008, 11:39
I CANNOT ever accept that the PN Secretary asks for Government data to be sent to the PN HEADQUATERS'S Offices through the offices of various Ministers/Parliamentary Secretary's offices!!!
This is UNACCEPTABLE in a modern society and is against the right of ONE'S PRIVACY!!
I do not know what our criminal law says about such behaviour but it is most shameful and disgusting.
Anyone who is guilty of such behaviour should resign straight away. This includes ALL Ministers/P Secretaries who passed any government data on individuals to the PN HQ!
@C. Cassar .. Joseph is right and his behaviour is that of a real gentleman who has the interests of our dear nation before all other interests.This is more serious then anyone can ever comprehend!
As a true gentleman Joseph is giving the Government time enough to 'stop' such behaviour and has pointed out ' the tools needed' to prevent any goverment ( present and future) from behaving is such a shameful way to gain some votes.
Indeed FL-IMKIEN KOLLOX POSSIBLI!!! SHAME! SHAME!!
Chris Azzopardi
Dec 1st 2008, 11:34
@ C. Cassar
I totally agree with your comment. Muscat should release all info today and not tomorrow. Breaching of DPA is a very serious crime. Only here in Malta issues like these are trivialized.
What a shame!
lgalea
Dec 1st 2008, 11:16
C Cassar
You do not release information that can be tampered with before the Data Protection Commissioner is appointed so as to be able to investigate the information given to him/her forthwith.
C Cassar
Dec 1st 2008, 09:57
"The offers and telephone calls asking us not to release the information were useless. You will not buy us," Dr Muscat said, threatening that if the government does not take steps to appoint a new Data Protection Commissioner in the coming days, he would have to give more information about the "web of espionage".
In other words Dr Muscat, you will suppress information about the so-called spying scandal provided only that the government appoints a new Data Protection Commissioner? I don't give a damn about party politics but I do worry about the integrity of our public institutions. I believe that the "scandal" is a serious matter but you yourself are now trivialising it. You should release all your information about it straight away.