Gonzi’s new style of governance :) …

Bread price hike ‘stopped before election’ (The Malta Independent 29/04/2008)

by BERNARD BUSUTTIL

 

The Commission for Fair Trading yesterday held that the government made the main wheat importer freeze its prices in December in order to buy time ahead of the general election.

 

In a ruling handed down yesterday on an application by the director of the Office of Fair Trading filed on 20 December last year, the commission found that the government in December made the Office for Fair Trading issue a prohibitory injunction against Federated Mills plc, who had informed the office that the mills would charge bakers a higher price for their flour.

 

Instead of accepting the legitimate request and subsidise the difference as it had done in three instances, said the commission, the government made the office issue an injunction preventing the company from raising the price and obliging it to keep selling the same amount of flour mix used for making traditional Maltese bread (hobza tal-Malti) a staple food in the country’s diet, as before.

The commission said the government thus bought time so that it would not face a rise in the price of bread, which was “not an ideal situation at such a sensitive and critical time”.

 

The commission held that given Malta’s belief in a free market, the government should shed the Office for Fair Trading from its responsibilities in order to render it a truly independent watchdog.

 

It held that the wheat market was not a truly free one, as Federated Mills plc controlled 95 per cent of the country’s imports and the company is not a price setter, since the price of wheat was determined by external factors.

 

Although subsidies are allowed by EU law, said the commission, they distort the market as market forces are prevented from acting freely, thus delivering price signals that help set demand and supply.

 

It also ruled that the milling industry was a natural monopoly due to the country’s small market, which cannot entertain a free market. In fact, this was one of the factors that made a number of mills merge and form the company.

 

Thus, the commission held that Federated Mills plc did not abuse its dominant market position, and revoked the Office for Fair Trading’s decision and the injunction.

 

 

– Further comment is superfluous! Ralph

 

 

 

Mozzjoni biex issalva lil H’Attard… 3 favur, 3 kontra + casting vote

Hawn taht qed nirriproduci mozzjoni li m’ghaddietx (waqt laqgha tal-Kunsill ta’ H’Attard 19/2/2008). Tal-PN qalu li ‘harxa wisq’. Ghaddew mozzjoni ohra minflok li tghid li l-Kunsill Lokali jiehu pariri legali dwar l-art ta’ wara Villa Bologna biss… ma jridux jippruvaw iwaqqfu l-isfregju li qed isir f’H’Attard. Ma jridux jammettu li dak li qed jigri f’H’Attard u madwar Malta kollha huwa tort tal-politika tal-gvern. B’idi fuq qalbi nista’ nghid li ppruvajt.

Tislijiet

Ralph Cassar

 

MOZZJONI

Il-Kunsill Lokali ta’ H’Attard, wara li ezamina l-Pjan Lokali ghac-Centru ta’ Malta hu tal-fehma li ma saritx konsultazzjoni kif titlob il-ligi dwar l-ippjanar qabel ma gie approvat dan il-Pjan Lokali;

Peress li l-bdil f’daqqa fl-gholi permess ta’ bini f’parti kbira ta’ H’Attard qed johloq inkonvenjent kbir ghar-residenti kif ukoll hsarat fit-toroq li l-Kunsill Lokali bil-budget limitat tieghu ma jistax ilahhaq maghhom;

Peress li l-Pjan Lokali kif approvat ifisser li zoni li fihom diga hemm koncentrazzjoni kbira ta’ bini bhal l-inhawi ta’ Triq il-Qarsajja, Triq il-Linja u Triq Dun Mikiel Xerri, fost ohrajn, se jinbidlu f’zoni b’aktar u aktar units residenzjali;

Peress li skond ic-Censiment ta’ l-2005 f’Malta hawn diga bizzejjed bini vojt u mhux utilizzat (53,000 unit) u l-Pjan Lokali gie approvat qable ma gie ippubblikat ic-Censiment;

Peress li l-Gvern approva l-pjanijiet lokali b’mod irregolari ;

Peress li l-bdil fiz-‘zoning’ li sar f’H’Atard jipprovdi ghal bini f’zoni li qabel kienu immarkati u kkunsidrati minn kulhadd bhala zoni hielsa mill-izvilupp, bhal fil-kaz ta’ Triq Lorenzo Manche;

Peress li tali bini fi Triq Lorenzo Manche,u f’zona diga b’koncentrazzjoni kbira ta’ bini se jtellef mill-karattru tal-inhawi u jghatti parti sew mill-hitan li jdawwru gnien ta’ Villa Bologna, dan il-Kunsill jirrisolvi:

Li jiddefendi d-drittijiet tieghu bhala rapprezentant tan-nies ta’ H’Attard billi jibda proceduri legali immedjati biex titlob il-qrati jiddikjaraw il-Pjan Lokali (Central Malta, 2006) bhala invalidu u null u biex tinfetah mill-gdid il-konsultazzjoni dwar dan il-pjan.

Proponent
Ralph Cassar, Kunsillier

Sekondant
John Bonnici, Kunsillier

GonziPN: Business as usual

Joe Saliba: jiftahar li ‘mexa sew’ fuq il-kaz ta’ Pullicino Orlando u l-Mistra, f’isem l-istrategija u l-voti kollox huwa ammessibbli (precizament l-messagg ta’ Makjavelli!), anke tizvija lin-nies (avolja min hallla ruhu jigi zvijjat juri li ma tantx jaf jizen u jixtarr fl-opinjoni tieghi!). Biex ma nsemmux il-gideb ta’ Joe Saliba u Lawrence Gonzi fuq Dr. Vassallo qabel u wara l-elezzjoni. Ghal rebha, anke bi zbrixx, KOLLOX huwa accettabbli ghad-demokristjani Maltin (… u ghal hafna nies ohrajn …ghax ir-rettezza fil-politika hija rari…rari hafna sofrtunatament).

PfP: Bulldozer minn fuq kulhadd, inkluz il-Membri Parlamentari fuq in-naha tal-Gvern! Konferma li l-parlament huwa biss timbru (rubber stamp).

Kacca fir-rebbiegha: Mit-Times (4/4/2008) ‘The Hunters’ Federation last week said its lawyers had worked with the government, and Malta had presented the best possible defence in the circumstances.’ Ikompli jsahhah l-immagini ta’ Malta bhala pajjiz li mohhu biex jispara fuq l-ghasafar bil-Gvern ‘jiddefendi l-interessi Maltin’ (Maltin = kaccaturi irresponsabbli) meta kulhadd rasu fuq ghonqu jaf li l-kacca fir-rebbiegha TRID TISPICCA (fl-interess veru tal-Maltin).

Gonzi: ‘Stil ta’ politika gdida’??, ‘Flimkien kollox possibbli’ ?? Still waiting…