All privatisations should happen through the Malta Stock Exchange; open to all, with no possibility of a single person or group of persons dominating any privatisation. Malta is too small.
The only exception I would make is the MDP. This is very technical and I would suggest a consortium made up of all breweries, wineries, soft drink and water bottlers, food processors and packers and the farmers. If I am not mistaken a brewer once ran this operation after World War II.
The water and electricity surcharges should be revised every month or every time Enemalta buys fuels. On the other hand, industries and big consumers should be allowed and helped to import their own fuels from wherever source and without restrictions.
The government sees public transport from the wrong side, in my opinion. Did the government ever think of subsidising this service 100 per cent - all bus travel becomes free for all and, instead, tax the users of the roads, by weight, volume and frequencies.
Reduction of holidays should only be part A. Part B should be having only one national day instead of five.
On the subject of kerosene, instead of the government putting in jail the few offenders, all families and every honest user who heats his/her house using kerosene, especially the pensioners, disabled and the aged, are punished. Excellent ideas from up above! Where are the wardens? What are they doing? Shouldn't they be sampling fuels from trucks and buses and jailing owners? We boast of a national laboratory. Are they all very busy or are there no jails for offenders? Stop and sample is the solution and please do not tax the innocent people.
On the subject of incentives for film producers, the government experts should visit our competitors, such as Tunisia, Spain, Morocco, the former Yugoslavia and Ireland etc. and see what they are doing to this industry. Recommendations should be adhered to and not pushed down to the bottom drawer.
Excise duty on cigarettes should be up by 50c not five. Is this a misprint?
In Israel, no building permit is given without proof that a solar heater/panel etc. is already purchased. Any gadget to save fossil fuels and pollution should become tax free for all. Incentives as appearing in this budget are not worth bothering much about.
The "polluter pays" principle should go to wardens who should be watching trucks and buses releasing black smoke and other trucks that drop rubbish on our roads. More cameras, more wardens and more offenders in jail.
Not in this budget, is the Gozo helicopter issue a surprise? Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi should visit a dozen Greek Islands of the 2,000 that exist and see how they handle this problem. There are many identical examples of our situation; he must find one or more from the 2,000 islands and test these for himself. It is not an expensive trip!