ToonToday: Nobody stops Tony

Editorial • 23 February 2003

A country moving towards standstill

Malta might soon wake up to a day when nearly nothing moves. It would be a throwback to a time unimaginable to most of us, when people have to get around by bicycle, on an animal or on foot.

The industrial action at Enemalta cannot but serve to remind uedits how fragile Malta’s infrastructural set up is and how heavily we are reliant on fossil fuels.

It reminds us how hopeless we would be without energy to run nearly everything we use.

The essential services, including ambulances, are expected to be supplied so as to avoid more tragic consequences, nevertheless the General Workers Union’s industrial action over pay rises at Enemalta could have impacts way out of proportion with what is up for discussion.

The fact that the energy market has not been liberalised does not serve to help us. Had liberalisation taken place consumers would have a few suppliers to choose from.

The airport, Freeport, factories, the buses, taxis, private cars and mini vans may be affected by the strike and, should the union push up the stakes, all our household appliances and even our mobile phones would be put out of action.

The fact that so little headway has been made to exploit renewable sources of energy should now hit us in the face and make us think why we had not doubled our energy to exploit resources that are free and for ever.

Other countries, that enjoy much less sun and wind than us, have made headway and are able to supplement their energy needs with wind and sun energy.

Pre referendum tactics

There is a possibility that the GWU may see this strike as one that will bring it, and the Labour Party, sympathy in the weeks before the referendum and elections, but that tactic might well boomerang.

The union is pushing for pay increases for Enemalta workers, but that may well be just a pretext for mounting anti-government activities.

That tactic may well fall flat on its face if Enemalta holds strong to its position and it is revealed that the GWU demands are excessive.

Enemalta Corporation made a massive Lm10 million loss last year in part because electricity rates are subsidised to help Maltese consumers. The GWU should tread very carefully here and make its demands known as soon as possible.

People will be furious to be without fuel, but for Enemalta to be jeopardised by unreasonable demands for wage increases which bring the country virtually to a standstill would be absolutely unacceptable.