Labour presents motion over ARMS, smart meter contract

The Labour Party yesterday filed a parliamentary motion calling on the Auditor General to investigate the “disastrous” situation at utility bills handler ARMS Ltd and for a plan to rectify it.

The motion also gives the government one week to publish the €70 million contract for the installation and use of smart meters.

“The set-up of ARMS goes hand-in-hand with the huge contract of the smart meters, which should have been state-of-the-art. We have requested the government many times to publish the contract but so far we have always been refused,” Labour leader Joseph Muscat said yesterday during a press conference.

“Like the rest of the population, we are very angry at the way ARMS is treating Maltese and Gozitan consumers. It is a tragedy that has been going on for months.”

The motion, which was filed just hours before Parliament convened after the summer recess, also asks the Auditor General to investigate how ARMS was set up and its top management chosen.

It also calls on the Auditor General to carry out another investigation – into the €70 million smart meters contract and whether the government got the best value for money.

Once finished, the AG reports would be tabled, and debated, in Parliament.

The party, Dr Muscat said, had decided to present the motion in a bid to improve the situation at the billing agency, where people were left waiting for hours in a small room at its Luqa premises.

Almost three weeks ago, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi apologised for the “poor service” and promised that the situation would be looked into.

But the Labour Party is not satisfied. “We acknowledge and appreciate the Prime Minister’s apology but we believe that it is not enough,” Dr Muscat said.

ARMS was not capable of handling a simple situation when it closed an office in Valletta but did not have the common sense to open another one close by. This “ridiculous” state of affairs led to people taking time off work and others catching two buses just to get to Luqa.

He stressed the workers were not being blamed for the situation, which was created by the minister’s appointees.

He pointed out that the decision to set up ARMS was a political one and was aimed at providing an excellent service to consumers who should have started receiving precise bills every two months.

“If the government has nothing to hide, then it should have no problem voting in favour of the motion,” Dr Muscat said.

Meanwhile, when asked whet­her opposition MPs would take part in the meetings of the parliamentary select committee on democratic change, Dr Muscat said the government had not apologised for its accusations against MP Justyne Caruana.

Therefore, there was no change on this issue, he said. The Labour MPs had withdrawn from the committee after the government claimed that Dr Caruana had mistakenly voted against a Labour motion condemning the Delimara power station extension contract.