Office of Fair Competition works for government, not people - Mizzi

Opposition Whip Joe Mizzi charged in Parliament yesterday that the Office of Fair Competition worked for the government, not the people. Even the Office of the Ombudsman felt the Office was being unjust with Mr Mizzi for not giving him any sort of reply to a complaint in two years.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said the OFC was independent of the government, and urged it to give Mr Mizzi a speedy reply to his complaint as a citizen. But he pointed out that the formula the Office used was transparent and had been instituted only following public consultation which the opposition had been invited to join in.

The formula, said Dr Gonzi, was contested only when prices went up.

The exchange of words came in a question-time mini-debate which had started on Monday over the legality of Enemalta Corporation’s increase in energy tariffs.

In Parliament on Monday Mr Mizzi demanded to know how the Malta Resources Authority had approved the raised rates when the corporation had failed to present audited accounts since 2000. He said the MRA could not have reached serious conclusions without such audited accounts.

This made the current utility tariffs, which were hammering families, illegal.

He had complained about the tariffs for the past two years, but the Office of Fair Competition had never given him any reply and no interim measures had been taken.

Intervening, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said Enemalta’s audited accounts had been presented and laid on the Table of the House for all except the past few years.

Complaints could be made to the MRA, which was completely transparent in its work.

Very pointedly, Dr Gonzi said the title Honourable did not give anyone the right to make random accusations.

In question time yesterday the Prime Minister said that, contrary to Mr Mizzi’s charges, Enemalta’s accounts had been audited until 2008, and the accounts for 2009 and 2010 were in the audit process.

Mr Mizzi said the Prime Minister had once told him that no reply was a negative. But without an official reply he could not go to court.

Dr Gonzi said the fact that any company’s accounts had not yet been audited did not mean there were no accounts. The audit normally confirmed the company’s internal accounts.

Mr Mizzi said he had privately known that Enemalta’s accounts had been audited until 2008, but it had been the Finance Minister who had said the auditing of the 2000 accounts was not yet ready.