Saturday, 25th July 2009
The Plight Of Poor Families
I am amazed at the insensitivity of the present Nationalist Government in the face of the many problems being faced by several families to make ends meet. During a radio programme which I present, a member of the general public phoned to inquire if we were aware of the number of Maltese families who have had their water and electricity supply cut off because they were not in a position to pay their bills. This person gave details of several families he knows who are living in such unacceptable sub-standard conditions as a consequence of the PN Government's scourge of abnormally-high energy tariffs. Despite all this manifest suffering of many people in the low-income bracket, the Government persists in piling the agony onto such families. There are even innocent children who are growing up in abject misery as a result of all this!
Low-Income Families
I would like to ask how it is humanly possible to raise a family in today's living conditions in Malta if you happen to be, for example, a labourer employed in the Malta Public Service and if your wife does not work and you have a number of children to support? How can such low-income workers support their families? The poor wages earned by such people do not even cover the monthly expenses incurred for the most essential necessities of life. It is coming to a point where some families are going to pieces because both partners have to go out to work, day and night, simply to make ends meet. The negative consequences on the welfare of such families can only be imagined. No wonder that we are hearing of more and more marriages breaking up! As citizens, we have to ask ourselves whether such a social situation is acceptable. Because it is obvious that there is something seriously wrong with this PN Government which has reduced so many Maltese citizens to this unacceptable standard of living.
Creation Of National Wealth
The point being made is this : the PN Government, led by Dr Lawrence Gonzi, is impotent to solve the nation's problems. It has manifestly failed, over and over again, to create the national wealth necessary to ensure a better standard of living for all its citizens. It is always the same with this Government : blame outside circumstances for the situation in Malta, explain to the people that the blame lies fairly and squarely on circumstances beyond the Maltese Government's control. Say that it's the fault of the international economic recession, blame the workers for wanting better working conditions which make Malta uncompetitive. When the price of oil goes marginally up, create a panic to justify energy tariffs price-hikes. But don't mention Government wastage and unnecessary expenditure! Don't mention projects that are, in reality, unjustified burdens on the expenditure of badly-needed national funds. Go on kidding the people. The PN won the 2008 General Election, after all, so who cares? With luck and the usual Machiavellianism, it might even win the next one, so why bother?
A Better Future
This Government has to go. The sooner the better. It's as simple as that if we are determined to eliminate the new poverty that is, unfortunately, increasing on a daily basis in Malta. It's now up to ordinary citizens to make their voices heard and to put pressure on the PN Government to do the honourable thing and step down. Malta has a much better alternative in the Labour Party under its capable Leader, Dr Joseph Muscat. For how much longer can we afford to tolerate the inefficiency and incompetence of the Nationalists? They are simply ruining the country, they are creating social situations where even innocent young children are unjustly suffering the consequences of the Government's failures. Labour in Government, with Joseph Muscat as Prime Minister, is the only realistic solution to this country's problems. Any other solution would be simply wishful thinking!
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Comments
I do not respond to innuendoes and vague allegations.
I visit almost every year and read and listen to Malta news every single day. If you tell me that what the papers report, what letters are all about and what the television media shows are incorrect, inaccurate and downright false, then I agree with you.
You know the opposite is true and leaving aside the two parties' media, there are still sufficient sources one can use to feel the public pulse.
There is hardly one project, which the party you (reportedly) recently embraced, does not try to derail just to obtain publicity. Too bad Joseph is trying hard to quell the publicity about his ultra fast MEPA approval which was processed even before the consultation period was over! After all, what was the urgency? Would a few days have made that much difference? And herein lies the question. Was MEPA or the DCC informed of the possibility of an objection reaching them before the consultation period was over? Does this warrant an investigation? It seems that there was no hesitation ordering a police and a MEPA investigation in Dr. Scerri's case.
What's good for the goose ....
Reading on line or the net does not give you the present situation and realities we live in! We touch all and I am sorry to say you refuse and never accepts the TRUTH! Your furtile imagination is too biased to accept the Truth. Your quoting of past events to justify yourself are too weak,
Word of advice: Try to get out of your shell, even for the shortest period possible,and you see a very different genuine picture .. Capish habib?
"...I will not trust Gonzi again!! Never, never again!!!!"
So you trust Joseph who for years on One TV & radio campaigned against joining the EU.
You trust opportunist Joseph when, after Malta joined the EU had the cheek to run for MEP and collected five years' salary from the EU he fought so vigorously against.
You trust Joseph who told Iceland to forget about joining the EU and risk everything it had!!! Now Iceland begs the EU to join the organization - after it lost almost everything by not joining the EU. Surely monuments for Joseph will appear on every public square in every town of Iceland, very soon, remembering his advice!
You trust Joseph and his party after his former boss advised against changing the 'unknown' Maltese Lira for the second strongest currency - the euro.
You trust Joseph for, after five years of hindsight, admitted that the 'Yes' vote for joining the EU had indeed won!!
You trust Joseph who, in his short period leading the LP, managed to turn several pages back by inviting remnants of the 70's and 80's regime back into active duty in the party.
You trust Joseph? Nonsense!
Tal-klikka toghddom fuq id wahda habib! Dan tafu int, jien u Malta kollha. J'Alla kieku kif ghidt int li dawn huma l-maggoranza! Ghid hekk il-dawk kollha l-fdaw ghal tant zmien il-partit tieghek u issa qed jiddispjacihom ghal mewt. Jien wiehed minnhom habib u hlift mal-familja tieghi kollha li qatt izjed ma nafdaw il-PN cioe' GonziPN! Ok?
Bhali hemm aktar milli int qatt tista timmagina!
Please allow me to comment on The Plight Of Poor Families in Malta. I can make some comparisons with other 'poor' families on the other side of the 'prosperous' world.
The caller on your programme claimed that a number of families are without electricity and water because they are not in a position to pay their bills. Are these included in the 30,000 receiving assistance with their bills? These are the first people who should be investigated and educated since it seems that they are very poor - managers or they lie. Maybe their priorities are all wrong?
The NP government is insensitive? How insensitive was the MLP government of 1996-98 when at $12.00 for a barrel of oil raised the W&E rates sky high and now that the price is (only) five times higher, they complain that bills are too high? How sensitive was the MLP government(s) of 1971-87 when if one dared write in a newspaper to complain about anything at all, he/she was at the end of a beating and the paper burned down?
Low income families are found in the most prosperous countries, some can be helped but others refuse help.
Continued...
Those who refuse help have been on Social Services for years and got accustomed to live with little instead of being inconvenienced with what we call 'work'. The latter include the homeless who choose to live under bridges or sleep in a cardboard box in sub-zero temperatures in winter. No matter how volunteers and police try to convince them to go to a shelter, they prefer to live in inhumane conditions rather than rejoining the mainstream. Do you know that the city of New York has offered these 'homeless' a free bus fare to Florida where the climate is suited for outside living for most of the year? Do you know that winter after winter, in Toronto alone, several people are found frozen to death? And you complain about the stress this NP government has put these families under? When will you swallow a bit of reality and look beyond the confines of Malta?
Of course, I forget that anything that goes wrong in Malta is automatically the government's fault. You mention broken marriages. You corrected my faulty impression that broken marriages are more prevalent in prosperous nations than those enjoying a lower standard of living!
Continued
And how do you dare describe the standard of living as being lowered by this government when a few hours of power interruption and water shortage for a day or two turned into a 'national catastrophe' in Labour's media when not too many years ago, it was a routine affair under the Socialist administration?
Exactly what do you mean by 'National Wealth'? Is it the citizens' ability to create a little nest egg for future use? Is it the ability of people to own their own home? Is it their ability to travel abroad like never before? Is it the business entities and private citizens who jump on every government bond issue and oversubscribe it by a good margin?
How worse off would we have been had it not been the NP's foresight to join the EU against the 'advice' of the Labour Party? I am so ever glad that you mentioned the capable leader Joseph Muscat. No doubt that the true Labour Party had capable leaders in the past, but unfortunately we have to go back almost 60 years before we can literally dig one up. Worse still, it was the MLP itself who set him aside.
Well said GdeMartino! What a paradox!
News items picked on CNN: Unemployment in Spain 18%. Britain: GDP plunges in second quarter. Dow Jones retreats as frofits fall. Luxury hotels feeling the pinch as global recession bites. Ericcson reports 50% fall in profit AND MALTA 300000 vehicles> One for every adult.