Tuesday, 2nd December 2008
Gatt denies lying to Parliament
Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt yesterday denied he had lied over the introduction of sewage tax by pointing out that in his reply to a parliamentary question he did not say that such a tax would not be introduced.
Labour leader Joseph Muscat accused Dr Gatt on Sunday of lying in Parliament last 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".
"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.
Yesterday, Dr Gatt reproduced the exchange in Parliament and defended himself saying that nowhere in his statement did he say there would be no tax on sewage.
"It's not my fault if Dr Muscat hasn't yet learnt how to choose his words when speaking in Parliament," concluded Dr Gatt.
The tax in fact will be levied, as Dr Gatt himself announced in Parliament recently, and water users might have to pay extra due to EU-imposed deadlines that the government has missed, The Times recently reported.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariff , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax
"A tariff is a tax imposed on goods when they are moved across a political boundary.....Tax, tariff and trade rules in modern times are usually set together because of their common impact on industrial policy, investment policy, and agricultural policy."
Satisfied Mr vella?
Now we pay according to how much we consume according to your seemingly ingeniuos discovery, so please do tell all of us greedy, fools how I (or anybody alse for that matter!!!) am supposed to save on my water coming out of the flushing!! Leaving mounts of human droppings gather until I flush the toilet?? Throw my toilet to buy another one of these new ones which waste less?? throw my toilet away and go to the Local latrines when nature calls??
Respect everyone's intelligence....................this is another tax, a tax we will be paying to cover for incompetence and inefficiency!!
Kliem il -parlamentari u l-avukati
If you recall Alfred Sant and the MLP wanted to Tax you so that you could close your door so that no one would peak into your bedroom. So please do not talk about taxes, or shall I remember you how many Taxes Alfred Sant and the MLP brought in, not proposed, in a short time of 22 nonths.
I would have called that a Tax and not a Tariff; even perhaps you would have wanted to put half a door up. lol
P. Schembri, in life nothing comes free. I rather pay a tariff than a Tax. AT least I know exactly what I am paying for and could complain if the services are not provided for. Perhaps you prefer the times when the shortage of water and electricity where the norm and not the exception.
A Tariff in the context that it is used I believe it is asssociated with the usage of a commodity and on consumption of that commodity.
So the less one use the less one pays, and the more one use the more one pays generally speaking. Is some countries it is also refered to as a fee. The more traditional use of a Tariff is when countries impose tariff on imported goods
A Tax is a tax, you pay it regardless what.
If politicians cannot understand the langauge spoken in Parliament, then what are the electorate to make of anything said in the house?
Am I alone in thinking that such behaviour brings democracy into question?
"It's not my fault if Dr Muscat hasn't yet learnt how to choose his words when speaking in Parliament," concluded Dr Gatt."
Best case interpretation "I choose my words carefully to avoid answering a direct question".
Worst case interpretation "I lie to avoid answering a direct question"
So, the paradox here is that while vehemently denying he lied to Parliament, I can't tell whether he is "choosing his words carefully to avoid answering the direct question", or "lying to avoid answering the direct question."
Either way, thank you for clarifying that, Honorable Minister.
Ray Woods
www.maltabuyproperty.co.uk
Agostino Pio has now confirmed that the people were lied to and taken for a ride prior to the referendum as he has now clearly stated that the eu-tax on sewage is to be imposed on eu orders.