Please send in your cost-cutting suggestions to help Joseph and Edward reduce the deficit. Here is the first one.
Published:
May 31, 2013 at 12:47pm
Sent in by DR:
Maybe Mrs. Michelle Muscat could drive the twins herself to ballet lessons rather than have a government-paid chauffeur do it, with that chauffeur waiting for them outside for around an hour until the lesson is over. Surely the prime minister’s wife isn’t entitled to her own chauffeur?
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Imma issa jekk high society ghandhom bzonn id-driver.
Here’s another, on similar lines.
The Zammit Lewises can do their grocery shopping in their own car, at their own expense, instead of being driven to Scotts in their official limo by their state-paid chauffeur.
Not even Queen Elizabeth who is often spotted going round Windsor in her little car.
She consecrated the Mini to Cool Britannia iconography doing just that.
Legend has it she tinkered with some ambassador’s limo, having trained on trucks as a wren during WW2, when it refused to start at the end of a reception.
Forgive my attention to detail, Jozef. The Queen was in the army in WW2. In the ATS. The ‘wrens’ were in the navy – the Women’s Royal Naval Service or WRNS – hence they were known as wrens.
For obvious reasons the ATS was not honoured with the title of Women’s Royal – as they would then have been known as the (w)rats.
They could even go one better, Joe, and get on their bike, like (now ex) Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands.
But that wouldn’t do for the high society, would it?
Ask Debono to give up his car and to work pro bono for the State.
This morning he defended Cyrus and the latter was set free. Interesting, hux?
I’m really sorry for the handful of top people like Scicluna and Louis Grech. How could they possibly rub shoulders with a bunch of incompetent peasants?
[Daphne – You are just asking for the obvious answer.]
Switch off all street lighting at night for one week every month.
Let us cut the size of the cabinet by half. We should be able to save about 6 million euros per annum, or about 0.1% of GDP.
Tell Willie Mangion Mascoli to find himself a proper job instead of garages for bands.
Reduce the cabinet to at least 15.
Get rid of incompetent people like this one:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_Mifsud
He is another political arriviste and local star who, post-election, was given appointments. What qualifies him for them?
He is also ‘He is also founder and Managing Director of BLS Entertainment – that acts as an agent for local artists’ which is simply a blatant case of conflict of interest.
http://www.blsentertainment.com/view/top/home
What is it with chauffeurs in this country?
As soon as a minister/judge has a car assigned to him/her, it’s a free for all.
I must admit I think that this abuse stems from both sides of the political spectrum. I suspect it is due to the fact that not in a million years would any of these people (if not all, most) ever afford a driver and are not sure how to handle it.
Well there’s always Google on hand to solve this abuse.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_driverless_car
Din nahseb idea tajba.
Mal ligi li sejjer jghid Joseph, ghandu jaghmel ligi ohra biex ikkontrolla n_NEPOTISMU. Taf kif jinzel id-deficit kieku. Kieku waqa u kiser siequ kienu jghid l-antiki.
Here’s another one, perhaps the chauffeur of GM12, a BMW 7, could be trained to stop at a Stop sign, instead of driving erratically, nearly causing a collision. Saves us mere mortals our claims bonus.
What was he doing, carrying a young woman playing with her mobile around Birkirkara on an early Saturday evening anyway?
GM21’s driver could do with learning some road regulations, too.
If I’m not mistaken GM 12 is Chris Cardona.
A question to DR: Was the chauffer using the well-known 159, a silver 2007 Kia Sportage (owned by Mrs Muscat), or another government vehicle?
If it’s the Kia, it means that the Muscats have also leased their other car to the government.
No, they use a rented brand-new peugeot saloon and even hired a nanny to help ‘Mrs Michelle Muscat’ with the children.
Joseph should cancel his gym membership and fire his personal trainer. Whatever he’s doing is not working anyway.
If it’s any kind of ‘socialism’ then it’s national socialism.
But it’s not even that. It’s every man for himself.
Why would anyone do anything these hypocrites tell you to do?
Here’s another cost-cutting exercise.
Stefan Buontempo can go back to using the old (but still new) black car bearing registration number GM21, rather than the spanking new Volvo S-whatever tac-criecer, also bearing number-plate GM21.
Once that is done – and even, perhaps, before – he (or his wife) could drive themselves to St. Martin’s College in Swatar in their own car and with their own fuel to collect their elder son, rather than have a driver do the “job” with a government vehicle, on government time and with government fuel – all off our taxes.
Sell off the stock of hair-thickening sprays. It’s pointless using them.
No not Mrs. Muscat’s car. It was a big black Peugeot.
Arloggi, Vuitton bags, North Face, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana (knock-offs), Ferragamo, Chanel (knock-offs): “kollha hela ta’ flus”.
M’ahniex qeghdin il-Qatar jew fid-Dubai. Ghadna ma sibniex zejt. U flus x’jintremew, qirduna jghidulna li m’hawnx.
Alla fine dei conti, suppost in-nies jaghzlu Gvern sabiex imorru tajjeb huma u l-pajjiz taghna u mhux biex imur tajjeb il-Gvern li tellghu.
Bhala fund-raising Events, m’hemmx bzonn parties biex tigbor ghall-beneficjenza.
Is-Sorijiet ta’ l-Orsolini, jahdmu b’idejhom u snienhom biex darbtejn f’sena, ibieghu affarijiet li n-nies ikunu tawhom ghar-reciklagg biex ikunu jistghu imantnu l-ispejjez li jinqalghu fid-dar li jghixu fiha u t-tfal li jiehdu hsieb.
Ma jaghmlu ebda parties biex jattiraw l-attenzjoni tan-nies.
Imma f’dal-pajjiz kollox bil-maqlub. Ahna, dizgrazzjatament, il-maggoranza ta’ nies jirragunaw bl-image. Xejn hazin, imma l-image l-ewwel ghandu jirrifletti min sincerament u min verament, u min assolutament INT.
….u mhux dak li m’intix, jew li tixtieq tkun!
Pay cabinet and politically appointed persons a multiple of their IQ score; could save tons here.
The PM can let go of leasing his car and in that way we can reduce the deficit by 7,000 euros a year. So many people should not have been employed I am sure that Edward Scicluna shudders when he sees the payroll total.
Maybe Mark Tonna, (what is he PS or Chief of Staff) to the Hon Minister of Health, maybe he can donate to the Government coffers what he earned yesterday night during a wedding where he formed part of a band and performed for 5 hours. Must have made a tidy bunch yesterday. Donate his fee to Malta and decrease the deficit.
If I am not mistaken the previous ministers/parliamentary secretaries (13 in all) could only employ two persons from outside the general service, and exceptionally another two with the approval of the Office of the Prime Minister.
Going by the law of averages: 13 x 3 = 39 x €25,000 per annum (average incl. allowances) = €975,000 (rounded up to one million euros).
Through replies to parliamentary questions we are informed that the present Government has already employed within the various secretariats about 200 people from outside the general service – thus 200 x €25,000 = €5,000,000.
It was said that the present secretariats’ salaries have been increased but I have disregarded that.
Is the taxpayer aware that for the secretariats staff we, the taxpayers, are forking out at least an additional €4,000,000 per annum?
And this does not include the additional ministers and parliamentary secretaries together with their cars and other perks.
How’s that for cost-cutting?
They can cut costs by not buying new suits and shoes for their new cabinet jobs, but rather re-use the old, worn slip-ons they’ve been using to walk around on home-visits and to stand amongst the crowd at mass meetings.
Oh, wait…
Have ‘Mrs Michelle Muscat’ and the twins stay home when the prime minister goes to EU Council meetings in Brussels.
And what about the dozen or so ‘bodyguards ‘ washing their cars or sleeping whilst waiting for the Big One perform at the gym with his personal trainer?
What?
Cut Manuel Mallia’s food intake and make him walk to the office.
I pity Edward Scicluna. How is he going to rein in ‘the high society from spending public funds so selfishly and without any control whatsoever?
The enemy is within.
Ballet lessons! Pretentious peasants.
Let’s face it, paying new meritocratically appointed chairmen and directors less than their predecessors is the right thing to do.
Joseph hasn’t figured it out that this is a vote of no confidence in his appointees.
Sack Willie Mangion Muscoli (or whatever he choses to call himself now)
Want to save? Let’s turn the clock back to May 7th 1987 and start from there.
Just imagine: one tenth of students at the University, street lighting switched off, no new by-passes and a thousand more cash savers (I am at a loss what to mention). So, don’t say we don’t care.
George Vella, Franco Mercieca et al can start seeing patients and give up part of their ministerial pay.
That way they can still get a good wage and the state can save a few euros. Every little effort helps.
And we can check if all new Castille staff have given up their previous jobs and are actually earning one salary and not two.
How about ‘nissikaw ic-cintorin’
It seems she is not the only one. On Tuesday May 28, car GM13 was driving about in Marsa at 11.20am, and there was no politician in it but a woman and two children.
How about using Ryan Air for frequent holiday trips abroad.
Resign and reinstate the PN
I was going to suggest that every MP should ditch their ministerial car and use the DuDu instead… but maybe not all ministers could do that.