Testimonials in the igloo

Published: January 12, 2013 at 12:32am

So earlier tonight the Labour Party held what it called ‘testimonials under the dome’.

Next time maybe it will be a giant wendy-house, or a tree-house, or – if they really want to be cool and hip a la Ingliza, a giant yurt lined with hippie cushions and silks.

I found the testimonials really interesting. First off, there’s Daniel Micallef’s daughter. He was a minister in Mintoff’s cabinet and also in KMB’s. But they didn’t tell the press or the audience that this is the daughter of a Mintoffian cabinet minister, of course. Ma tarax.

Quoted in The Times:

Marika Micallef, from The Danish Village, like Mr Zahra, said the increased electricity costs had sometimes placed her organisation with its back to the wall.

She said the cost of water and electricity had become the cancer of the economy, saying that she hoped that there would be more proposals that would be worked out and feasible.

Well, she would say that, wouldn’t she.

Then there’s Tony Zahra, doing what he did in 1996 (come on, xi dwejjaq, honestly):

Earlier in the activity, the president of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, Tony Zahra, said this evening that unless the Nationalist Party could offer an option for the reduction of power tariffs, there was no choice but to take up the Labour proposal.

Neither Tony Zahra nor Joseph Muscat chose to tell the audience or the press that future Labour finance minister Edward Scicluna sits on the board of Tony Zahra’s companies.

Nice going.




13 Comments Comment

  1. La Redoute says:

    Don’t mock. There are some pretty stylish tree-houses. Imagine the sort of testimonials this could inspire:

    http://www.chillinpanda.com/img01/tree-house04.jpg

    or this:

    http://thechive.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/ufo-treehouse-awesome-2.jpg?w=500&h=375

  2. ken il malti says:

    This giant golf ball tent is the 21st century version of the Gaddafi beduin tent and just as ridiculous and pompous.

  3. P Shaw says:

    Isn’t the Danish Village owned by the GWU? Or did they sell it like Untours and the rest of the subsidiaries they owned?

  4. tal-misthija says:

    Issa ma ghadux wiehed mil hbieb tal-hbieb Tony Zahra?

    Lovely.

  5. P Shaw says:

    There was also Marco Cremona – initially I noted his silence over the MLP’s proposals since it has been proven that shale gas contaminates water.

    I thought that his silence was bought off for a future consultancy job with the MLP government. I wrongly thought that this hypocrite was all out in favour of the saving of water / energy and not for subsidizing waste.

    Given that everyone has a price, it seems that Marco has now increased his stakes. His experience with Seabank taught him a valuable lesson.

    The corporate world pays much more than the government.

    Should we be surprised if the enterprise that has struck a deal with the MLP to become the monopolistic provider of energy in Malta (thus holding Malta to ransom) has already employed the ‘services’ of Marco Debono?

  6. SPAM says:

    During Xarabank (Konrad/Marlene/Leo) said that it has been 25 years with electricity bill issues, and that greener energy should have been implement sort of back than.

    Who are they kidding?

    25 years ago no one imagined such things let alone implement them.

    Besides we were coming from a broken society thanks to labour and the government focused on other pressing matter.

    We should also remember that the electricity in 1996 increased plenty considering that oil was at $10 a barrel. Mysteriously these things they forget them, but we should never forget.

  7. Bugarrun says:

    Of course Marika would say that. The daughter of former Labour minister Daniel Micallef.

  8. maryanne says:

    Lanqas jaf jisthi:

    ‘The MHRA President explained that although the tourism industry had a terrific year, the increased costs, of which energy tariffs plays a large part, have eaten away profits’

    di-ve.com/news/tony-zahra-pls-proposal-acceptable

  9. Paul Agius says:

    Asthma in Malta is the result of overdevelopment in the construction industry (so yes the PN is to blame).

    Cancer has nothing to do with Delimara plant. What comes out from DPS chimneys is monitored by equipment from Durag (http://www.durag.com/) and the emission levels are continuously recorded and cannot exceed the limits set by the EU (there cannot be more than say 5 times when emissions exceed limits, otherwise there will be penalties).

    They are also under scrutiny of Mepa (which presumably would issue the penalties locally in case of infringements) and the general public has the option of checking the emissions from Marsaxlokk local council.

    So it is another unfounded lie that cancer and asthma are resulting from the power station. Where are the reports justifying the Xlukkajri are more ill than others? For sure the super tall chimney at DPS prevents any emissions from ever falling on Marsaxlokk.

  10. maryanne says:

    Tony Zahra did not shut up shop during the PN administrations. It follows that he made a profit and tourism figures broke all records.

    Therefore we can establish as fact that he made a profit.

    He has now joined the Labour bandwagon. He must be an arrogant chap. He wants me to vote Labour so that he earns a wider profit, while I’m lumped with Joseph and his merry men.

    No, thank you. Mr Zahra, you take care of your business and I take care of the future of my family.

    I just hope that he is not expecting our eternal gratitude because, you know, Malta depends on the jobs he provides.

  11. CIS says:

    Started with the igloo. In 96 Froze our application for EU. What is he going to freeze now our wages?

  12. ciccio says:

    An igloo?

    I thought they had erected one of the two gas tanks already, and thought, wow, that was quick.

  13. ciccio says:

    I heard what Tony Zahra said in the igloo on Super One yesterday evening.

    Judging from his tone of voice, I honestly believe that he spoke like that sarcastically and to please the crowd.

    Zahra was a guest in the igloo, so he had to show some respect to the Labour crowd, otherwise, in igloo-land speak, his fate would have been sealed.

    I think there is a limit to what The Times journalists can capture in their pieces, also because this part of the event was reported in piecemeal uploads.

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