When a consultant receives €100 an hour for his work to a government agency, one of the many that are mushrooming seemingly without control, those below the at-risk-of-poverty line and those who only get between just €4 and €7 an hour, take a deep breath in disbelief.
Income inequality is a fact of life but the disequilibrium that exists today is widening so much it is causing concern and hardship across an increasing spectrum of society. Never mind statistics for a while, the feeling on the ground is that more and more people are finding it difficult to make ends meet.
The recent report that former tourism minister Edward Zammit Lewis is getting paid €100 an hour for his consultancy work to Identity Malta has only helped to put into a sharper focus the plight of thousands, including 95,000 pensioners, struggling to keep to their weekly household budget.
Only recently, the government, acting in an unblushingly benevolent manner, distributed a tax refund, ranging between €50 and €60, to some 200,000 people. The amount was considered risible by most as it was nowhere near enough to ease the financial difficulties they experience today.
It is infuriating that the growing disequilibrium is happening just as the economy is booming, mainly as a result of an expanding e-gaming sector, financial services and an unbridled construction industry that is ruining the face of Malta. Even more appalling is the way the government is going about granting land for development or divesting itself of assets at a pittance or without much consideration to the environment.
In one case, the db Group’s project for the development of a monstrosity at Pembroke, the government threw away millions of euros in a scandalous deal that so many fear will blight the locality and lower the quality of life of thousands of people who live there. Even hardline Labour people have come out against the project.
The Planning Authority board members who approved the project have inexplicably ignored the feelings of thousands of people, as well as of the councils in the region, and gave their blessing to the plans, creating a festering sore that will be hard to heal. Is there any sense in all this? Shame on all who voted for it. Meanwhile, the government not only acts indifferently but actually promotes such development.
Ever so sensitive to its image as a caring administration, the government may well find a thousand reasons for supporting such projects. However, those who do not have political blinkers on believe the administration and its agencies are making huge mistakes in land and asset deals. As a result, Malta is losing its character, if not its soul as well.
As the rich are getting richer, the poor get poorer. The sudden influx of foreign workers has had the effect of keeping down the wages of thousands of workers. The figure of people living with an income below the at-the-risk-of-poverty line is still high enough to warrant strong measures to ease their difficulties. The rate of pensions payable is inadequate to meet today’s needs.
Bold steps, rather than cosmetic measures, are required in the Budget for next year to bring about a meaningful improvement in the daily lives of thousands of people.
This is a Times of Malta print editorial