Government 'adamant' not to change tariffs - Chamber

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry said today that while the government was adamant not to revise the utility tariffs, talks were being held on ways to mitigate their negative effect.

The Chamber was reacting to an invitation by the Ghaqda Unions Maltin to participate in the public protest against the tariffs on February 28.

Director-General Kevin J Borg said that the Chamber strongly believed in dialogue to solve the country’s problems. “Communication is always healthy in the areas of social dialogue,” he said.

He said the tariffs had imposed significant hardships on the productive sector. They would have an inflationary effect, which would hamper competitiveness. “For employers, the situation was made worse as the tariff increases came on the back of unprecedented cost of living salary increases and when consumer demand was low," he said.

Director-General Ray Muscat explained that the Chamber was in discussions with the government on a number of points: “We believe that government is adamant not to revise the tariffs at this stage – but we are proposing ways in which to support/mitigate their negative effect,” he said.

He said the Chamber believed that the way to solve such problems is through continued dialogue and the Chamber would therefore take no direct or indirect part in the planned manifestation.