Opposition leader Joseph Muscat urged the Minister of Finance today to assure the people that the instructions given to IBM by Arms Ltd for the writing of billing software really reflected the legal notice on the tariffs.
Dr Muscat made his comment during a debate in Parliament on an opposition motion asking the House to request the Auditor-General to investigate the operations of Arms Ltd. He did not elaborate.
The motion also called on the government to table the agreement for the purchase of Smart meters and for that to also be investigated.
At the opening of the debate, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech moved amendments where he agreed on the inquiry by the Auditor-General but said the Smart Meter contract could not be published for commercial reasons.
In his 25-minute speech, Dr Muscat said correspondence tabled earlier in the debate by Mr Fenech confirmed that customers who were over-billed for their meter rentals were not to be informed, even if their situation was to be rectified . It was only those who called at the Arms Ltd Office who would be told. This, he said, was a serious matter which the Malta Resources Authroity, had been asleep through the Arms Ltd debacle, needed to investigate.
Furthermore, Dr Muscat said, that while the minister had said that only just over 1,000 mistaken bills had been issued, he would do well to check again.
Dr Muscat hit out at the government for refusing to table the Smart meters debate and have it subject to an inquiry. He asked what the government was scared of.
Earlier in his address, Dr Muscat said it had become clear in the debate that the costs of the new 'smart grid system' had been factored into the people's utility bills, at high cost to the people.
He listed inefficiencies by Arms Ltd, including wrong number of persons in households, dead persons asked to submit their signature, bills not received on time, and mistaken bills. Some people were also charged interest on bills issued on estimates, although these were eventually rectified.
Had Arms being operating in a competitive environment, it would have lost all its business and would have filed for bankruptcy, Dr Muscat said. It was only its monopoly status which saved Arms Ltd.
Dr Muscat said he almost pitied Finance Minister Tonio Fenech for drying to defend the indefensible at Arms Ltd.
On the other hand, Minister Austin Gatt had sought to belittle the seriousness of the situation - after all this was the minister who had been responsible for Air Malta, which was now in a mess.
Furthermore, Dr Muscat said, that while the minister had said that only just over 1,000 mistaken bills had been issued, he would do well to check again.
Dr Muscat said the minister needed to assure the people that the instructions given to IBM for its billing software really reflected the legal notice on the tariffs.