80% of ARMS bills are inflated - Adrian Delia

Those who expected that the negative polls carried by MaltaToday would get Adrian Delia down were in for a surprise yesterday.

For the PN leader did refer, if obliquely, to the polls, but he came back with a crowd-rousing attacking speech. He was speaking at a party event in Zabbar.

For the survey carried by MaltaToday reported that the trust gap has widened again this past month as Muscat recovered lost ground. And while 52.6% said they trust Muscat, only 23.5% (3.7% less than the preceding month) said they trust Delia.

Beginning his speech, Dr Delia said he does not spend time poring over statistics but instead he goes out and speaks to people. And people tell him they cannot make ends meet with their pensions. Nor can they cope with water and electricity bills.

He then went off slightly off tangent. One of the persons who went to the party to get his ARMS bill checked said he had been living on a meagre pension of €50 a week for many years.

The party people who spoke to him and studied his case immediately found he has been getting €50 a week instead of €170 and that this has been going on for many years. The party took up this person's case and he will be getting a refund.

There are now six persons receiving people who are taking their ARMS bills to be checked. 80% of the bills that have been seen are on the high side because people are getting their bills once every two months.

Dr Delia also said that last week, Eurostat said that Malta's electricity bills are the seventh highest in the EU and that many whose bills are higher than Malta's have a higher standard of living than Malta.

And while all countries in the EU have been seeing their electricity charges go down, Malta's have increased by 6 to 7%.

The party has now appealed to the regulator and the Consumer Authority and asked them to investigate ARMS.

On paper, it is being said that people are doing well but in reality only a few people are doing well. The people have seen €40 million stolen and nothing has been done.

The party has also taken Vitals to court but the government insisted the case must be heard behind closed doors. The party will not accept this.

A person in every 10 is finding it difficult to pay rents or repay bank loans - this is the same percentage as happened in Spain and Portugal in the worst years of the crisis.

The number of poor in Malta is almost 70,000 and many cannot even buy medicines. The government, on the contrary, hobnobs with the rich.

Because of this, Dr Delia added, he has resolved to get out and about and meet the people not just once a week, on Sundays, but every day. He appealed to PN candidates to do likewise.

Dr Delia then spoke about last week's parliamentary sitting which discussed money laundering and a PN motion that made 13 recommendations.

Although he had urged the prime minister for joint action by government and Opposition in support of Malta, the government moved a counter-motion which removed the 13 recommendations and praised the government.

Finally, Dr Delia again focused on the people who get paid €700 a month and who, to earn €900 or €1000 have to work their eyes out.