Regulator rejects call to resign

The chairman of the Malta Resources Authority said yesterday he will not resign, after 11 trade unions called on him to quit his post.

The picture of what actually happened at a meeting between the two sides last Friday continues to be confused - it was the conflicting versions which prompted the call for his resignation.

While the trade unions are insisting the regulator promised to revise water and electricity bills that have already been issued, the authority maintains no such agreement was reached at the meeting.

MRA chairman Carmel Ellul yesterday told The Times the authority's board would not resign: "The authority reiterates that in the meeting with the unions last Friday it did not reach an agreement, or recommend or in any way tried to give an impression that the bills will be revised retroactively as from October 2008".

At the meeting, the authority made a technical and detailed presentation of the verification process it had carried out on the impact the new tariffs would have on consumers.

When contacted on Friday evening, Mr Ellul was not even sure whether the MRA had any authority over retroactive bills, although Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi later confirmed that it does not.

The MRA maintains that some union representatives - who were accompanied to Friday's meeting by economist Edward Scicluna - might not have understood how a revision of tariffs is carried out and assumed the authority would be directly revising bills which have already been sent. The authority said it was prepared to meet the unions again for further explanation.

However, Malta Union of Teachers president John Bencini yesterday said he was not willing to meet someone who tried to repudiate what the unions had said: "If we had to go, I will make sure to take a tape recorder with me".

Representatives of the 11 unions who were present for the meeting will be going to court to take an oath about the meeting's outcome on Thursday.

The unions are taking legal advice and are expected to write to European authorities about the saga, which has been dragging since October.

While the unions have called on consumers not to pay their bill until they receive a revised version, Dr Gonzi said it was consumers who would suffer if they did not pay up.

So were people paying their bills? The Times spoke to a few consumers to see if they are following the unions' instructions.

Most of them said they had already paid their bill, adding it had gone up drastically: Marlene Mula, from Ħamrun, said she always sits down before opening an envelope from Enemalta...to brace herself for the shock.

A 57-year-old woman from Luqa said she received two bills in the span of a few days. "I paid the first one but am still saving money to pay the second. I guess I will have to pay it or face the consequences," she said.

Sharon Hili, 35, from Ħamrun, also received two bills, and said the amount she had to pay had increased drastically: "You end up working to pay for electricity".

A 62-year-old man from Marsa said he was dreading getting the bill in the post, and would be hesitant to pay it: "There are 11 unions backing us, so I will think about it thoroughly before sending a cheque".

Publius Despott, from Floriana, is one of those who will be waiting at least 45 days before paying his bill.

Even Alfred Abela, 71, said he was seriously considering whether to pay up, with his bill now much higher even though he had been careful about his consumption.

Madeline Pace, from Żabbar, complained that even the bill for her summer residence had increased substantially.