The Ombudsman hit out at the government company responsible for water and electricity bills describing it as “insensitive” to customers’ needs with a “very poor”, “inadequate” and “inef-ficient” service.
The scathing remarks are found in the Ombudsplan 2011, just tabled in Parliament.
In an overview of the issues he intends to tackle next year, Ombudsman Joseph Said Pullicino highlighted the wide-spread criticism levelled at ARMS Ltd, which took over the billing functions of Water Services Corporation and Enemalta.
The Ombudsman said the manner in which ARMS behaved “practically broke all the principles” of the recently approved law on public admi-nistration, which defined the responsibilities and obligations of public officers when dealing with citizens.
“This serious (matter) should not have happened in a well-organised public administration and it bears witness to how the administration of public affairs can degenerate because of a serious lack of accountability when the reins of power are passed on to a private company that is not aware of its responsibilities towards the citizen,” the Ombudsman said.
However, he noted that despite all the complaints that have appeared in the media, surprisingly, nobody asked the Ombudsman to investigate the matter.
Dr Said Pullicino attributed this to two possible factors: People might have the “mistaken impression” that the Ombdusman has no jurisdiction on the matter because the service is being given by a private company or else they might feel the Ombudsman cannot give them an effective remedy.
“When the behaviour of a public entity leads people to believe that the right to have good, efficient and serious administration is only available on paper and the service given is unacceptable, it erodes people’s trust in the public service,” the Ombdusman said.
He stopped short of saying whether he would be launching an investigation of his own but insisted the office had the duty to prevent situations that led to the erosion of trust in public authorities.
In an interview with The Sunday Times yesterday, the newly appointed chief executive of ARMS, Wilfred Borg, pledged to make the agency customer-oriented.
“I was told to get ARMS right and that is exactly what I am determined to do,” Mr Borg said, insisting he was taking stock of the situation.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com