Carmelo Abela says: enjoy your fifty-eight cents
Government spokesman Carmelo Abela made an announcement today: that compensation for the increase in the cost of living will be 58 cents a week.
‘Government spokesman’ is one of those non-jobs and non-roles created by this government to justify giving lots of money to cronies for doing nothing or next to nothing. The government has a head of communications whose role it is already to speak for the government: Kurt Farrugia.
Carmelo Abela, who is the government whip in parliament, has scooped up Eur30,000 a year for his role as CHIEF government spokesman, in addition to the his MP’s honorarium and party whip income.
That’s right: he’s paid thirty thousand euros a year to tell people that they’ll be getting another fifty-eight cents a week.
David Thake on Radio 101 had a festa with this, phoning people up to ask how they’re going to spend their 58-cent windfall.
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58 cents is not even “hames xelini.” Pakkett Twistees.
After tax and NI, that’s 37 cents or 15 old cents.
Gvern ta’ tliet xelini għall-foqra.
Remember we’ve had another 2c rohs fil petrol – and that comes up your hames xelini.
€30000 divided by 52 = €576.92c
Bend over, Mr. Abela, and I’ll show you what you can do with €0.58c.
not to mention his permanent job at HSBC
Where’s the Maltova baby?
Counting his pennies.
Great, now I can smoke the high-grade.
Can someone upload David Thake’s show today? Is it available on demand?
The KING of Maltese radio will be presenting his two-hour programme tomorrow after the six o’clock news on Radio 101. In the afternoon he’ll be replacing Charles Saliba.
Serraħ moħħok: Se tiżdied iktar minn 58ċ fil-ġimgħa:
http://normanvella.blogspot.com/2014/10/serra-mook-se-tizdied-iktar-minn-58c.html
Make no mistake, they do waste their time scheming instead of governing.
The real scheming was the pseudo-lowering of tariffs across the board by 25% to artificially push down the inflation figures and then give out a measly COLA.
That way government would be saving millions from giving next to nothing in wage increases with the balance going to fund the tariff reductions. One big con.
Naqbel mieghek Norman iz zieda tkun izjed . Ix xniegha li iz zieda tkun .58c harget mil gvern stess biex issa wara li jara it tgergir tan nies jghati izjed min hekk u jippredenti li ninzlu arkuptejna quddiemu u nghidulu grazzi
A release from the government spokesman is not a rumour, it is a fact. A retraction of this amount now is not ‘listening’ to the people, but showing just how incompetent they are.
They can engineer it slightly differently so that the outcome of the COLA mechanism will be respected.
They will say that the COLA mechanism gives 58 cents, so the COLA will be 58 cents. They will argue that the COLA is low because the inflation rate was kept under control by the Central Command of the Great Government of the People, “having regards to the 25% reduction in utility tariffs in accordance with the wish of the Great Leader.”
But, you see, when the Great Leader in Castille heard about this shocking news, and after he consulted with the “First Lady” , he ordered that there shall be an additional increase with the COLA.
PBS will drive the point home in their typical style: “Fuq inizjattiva personali tal-prim ministru u martu…
One hopes that the government will have the ‘decency’ to round this up to 60c.
That’s the price of two pastizzi at is-Serkin.
I always thought COLA was calculated by a set formula. The 58c is determined by that formula which does not change.
Yes the calculation is based on a formula that includes a basket of essentials. The base of the COLA is to ensure that the minimum wage increases with inflation thus ensuring that people, in theory, do not fall below the poverty line, or rather that their spending power is not eroded by inflation.
Which leaves with the composition of the basket of essentials and how these essentials impact our spending power. The overall low impact of inflation on this basket stems from the impact of the 25% decrease in electricity tariffs, which mitigated the increase in the other essentials.
The relevant point to consider here is that a significant number of families that are on minimum wage do not pay for their electricity anyway. If I recall correctly Tonio Fenech had once stated that the bills of about 10,000 families were subsidized anyway and there were not going to benefit from the 25% reduction.
What has happened now is that these 10,000, as an example, are actually going to be worse off this year than last year. Their spending power is going to reduce as the 58c COLA is not going to cover the increase in the prices of the other goods in the basket. Basic items like food have increased by more than 58c per week.
Interesting this, that it is a Labour government, the government of the people, that is going to make its labourers poorer.
Carmelo Abela used to work with HSBC, at Ċentru Rużar Briffa.
I stand to be corrected, but when HSBC staff leave their employment they get a “golden” handshake. How much did Carmelo get?
he still is employed there
So does he receive payment from HSBC, parliament and the government as its spokesman?
His package still doesn’t beat ‘Sigh’ Mizzi’s though.
Plus an extra for being the Labour whip in parliament.
Suggeriment x’tista tixtri b’58 cents
http://youtu.be/0i2cliFUB_A
This infamous strategy is as old as the dodo.
The weekly rise will be more than a pakkett twistees.
It will be equivalent to the price of a cappuccino.
52 more cappuccinos per year.
Big deal.
Where is this cafeteria that serves you a cappuccino for half a euro? Even the University canteen is more expensive than that.
I think that normally one needs about three weeks’ COLA increase to buy one coffee.
I meant that the 58c was a waters-testing ploy and that we would more likely get double that.
Just enough for a cheap cappuccino.
Abela explained that by saying the cost of living is the lowest it’s ever been in the last 30 years thanks to the lower cost of utilities.
He really must have lived on bread and water if he believes such tripe himself.
That’s 30 euros 16 cents a year. No wonder everyone’s happy.
I sincerely hope that Sai Mizzi’s contract includes this phenomenal COLA increase – it might dry the tears.
€600 fil-gimgha ghal tal-qalba; €0.58 ghall haddiema……fejn hu Tony Zarb? Tony who?
Tlettax-il elf Ewro ghall-mara tal-Ministru Konrad Mizzi, 58 cents ghalik u l-familja tieghek.
€1115 fil-ġimgħa – Imħallas iktar minn Ministru:
http://normanvella.blogspot.com/2014/10/1115-fil-gimga-imallas-iktar-minn.html
In PL fairyland that’s a free week’s shopping per year.
I think Muscat’s cabinet & friends on the payroll need a downward pay adjustment according to their own yardstick.
As events are slowly unfolding we seem to have become numb in our reactions.
It is like some sadistic test of how much the POPOLIN can endure.
I think we are already to the point of no return.
The latest bit of news is the 58 cents increase. I can imagine them all laughing and rubbing their hands in satisfication of how far they can go and nothing happens.
They are getting away with murder. Nothing shocks us anymore. I can’t believe all this is happening.
Zorro, I envy you because you must be young.
I am an old man and therefore what is happening to this poor little country of ours is exactly what I expected to happen.
However it seems that the idiom ‘once bitten twice shy’ does not apply to the majority of Maltese people.
The more one accepts renegotiations, the further down the downward spiral one goes.
Dante’s inferno had seven levels: watch them unfold.
The denial aspect of this behaviour hitting “good guys” for the first time means that it can take absolutely years for it to sink in that evil people exist. As in 15.
They will want to keep hoping against hope that human nature can’t be that bad and that each reneg is THE solution, but it isn’t ever: it’s just permission to keep on going and walk ALL over you.
By alienating and disorienting the Nationalist Party, and its supporters, they are keeping the “divide and rule” motto that controls this strong.
As long as there is no unified momentum gained by ALL those who feel this is bad, in that everyone pulls together and heads in one direction, they will be strong.
Once the contra voice is united – that’s why LP keeps on bleating “negative” : to keep people distant from the NP and discordant – the facade will fall completely.
Sometimes complete intolerance is well placed.
To get there, tolerance levels have to fall fast.
Our experience of Mintoff means that our tolerance levels, which endured more than ever necessary then, are set at high.
They are riding on this knowledge and are aware of the amount of time this can last for.
That is why this government should be recognised now as one that rose to power on a fraudulent mandate, and ALL its actions deemed circumspect.
Every action, and every non-merited post should be challenged and this sham government made accountable for all bad decisions.
Including all the Taghna llkoll benefits handed out, in whatever form.
One has to plan the next step and the NP should be planning in detail, keeping its data well organised.
The Vietnamese won their war by collecting data from all sources, even taxi drivers. Everything was collected, synchronised, stored. Plans were laid…
Events here unfolded from before the elections.
It all depends on tolerance levels, and what one is prepared to notice.
If you never look for yellow cars on the street, they will never jump out at you of their own accord. Once you realise that yellow is not only bright but can be fully present in different shades, you start noticing the more of the detail.
I’m at zero tolerance and high sensitivity.
Once attention is directed to a matter, the zoom gets more focused. The details become more apparent and relevant.
So he is getting more then the famous Euro 500 the Nationalist MINISTERS got! What hypocrites.
[Daphne – And those Nationalist ministers didn’t even get the money, please remember.]
Ah, but Muscat had stated he did not believe ministers and MP’s should get an increase of Eur500 per week ‘f’din il-legislatura’.
Can’t find the footage, if I’m not mistaken, it was one of the Xarabank tit for tats.
Obviously we were foolish enough not to notice he was referring to the previous legislature.
With Muscat, one just has to go through the small print, that is if he chooses to grace us with any detail.
“Dr Muscat insisted the latter decision only came after he had announced that if he is elected to government, one of his first decisions will be to remove the €500 increase. Families have long been feeling the burden, he emphasised.”
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2012-01-07/news/the-pm-should-convene-parliament-on-monday-and-request-a-vote-of-confidence-304029/
Is anyone feeling the burden of Sai Mizzi’s remuneration or is that manna falling from heaven?
Carmelo Abela says he works full time at HSBC plc: http://www.parlament.mt/abela-carmelo
When does his do his 24/7 job as government spokesman?
And his job as MP and as party whip?
If one thinks about it carefully …
2013 COLA = 4.08 € x 52 wks = 212 €uro
Since electricity has reduced we no longer get a decent COLA increase and hence the total increase for next year would be
2015 COLA = 0.58 € x 52 wks = 30 €uro
2015 Electricity Saving estimate = 250 €uro
So effectively only a small part of the reduction in Electricity rates ends up in ones pocket
How boring Labour are becoming of late. Can’t they even bother to change their spin any more?
Out comes the podium, out comes Il-Prim, deep furrow etched even deeper, and he will pompously declare, “Ser naghtu 1.20 ewro zieda fil-gimgha.”
Much fawning and out comes Eddy Privitera from his burrow. Just wait for it.
58 cents! And I was dreaming of 58 euros.
I have this very bad habit of listening to Super One TV and Radio, where nothing seems to be going wrong, investments galore, profits, saving, everything on track.
So you can stick your 58c Mr Muscat (whiteout the Dr) for I know now that there’s one vote that the Nationalists will be getting next election which they did not get because of all those Labour lies – that of my husband and that’s what matters to me.
One awaits Tony Zarb’s reaction to this Mintoffian-style-increase.
He will probably blame it on the PN and say that this government had no other way but to offer an increase of 58c a week.
But the prize has to go to Tony Zarb for “campaigning” to have the COLA exercise every six months instead of twelve.
Do the maths – 29 cents increase twice a year instead of a heady 58 cents all in one big go.
Now consider this. Could Abela be a reincarnation of someone who lived in 1914? I’m saying this because during the Great war an increase of five shillings (58c) in weekly wages was hefty one.
Tghid Carmelo Abela ser jcapcaplu lil Minisitru tal-Finanzi meta meta jsemmi iz-zieda ta’ 58c ghall gholi tal-hajja.
Carmelo Abela and his party made a feast out of the €500/week the previous previous ministers were about to be paid.
But Abela is getting much more than that.
Hu go fik, ja Gahan Malti.
Has The Times reported on the 58 cents COLA increase? I could not find any articles on the website.
[Daphne – I read it in the print edition this morning.]
Dan gvern li ‘jtik’ min-naha u jehodlok minn naha l-ohra !
58c a week and 2c off our petrol bill. We’re getting richer every day.
Don’t be so sure Bumblebee. All HSBC employees who took early retirement got a golden handshake.
If it is really going to be 58 cents per week that would be tantamount to mass humiliation of the country’s entire workforce plus all the pensioners.
I do not believe it.
If it happens, I suggest that a charity fund be set up to encourage all self-respecting Maltese to donate the 58c every week.
I hit the roof jumping for joy when I heard that I will be getting the phenomenal weekly increase in my pension.
I have been working on a voluntary basis in another European country for ten years. For some time now I have been considering returning to Malta. This unexpected bonanza has tipped the balance in favour of settling back in my country of birth to live comfortably on an additional 58c a week.
Will I get the full 58c or just three quarters of it? If the latter, I will have to reconsider the situation.
Il-Partit Laburista m’ghadux il-Partit tal-ftit mill-hafna. Issa sar il-Partit tal-hafna lil ftit.
Mela ma ħarġgħetx il-Caritas tagħmel ix-xirja din is-sena? Il-58c l-anqas ikopru l-għoli tal-ikel tal-qattusa. U għaliex lil dawk anqas “ixxurtjati” se jwiżinhom b’xi ħaġa oħra? Għoliet jew le il-ħajja?
I suggest we tell the government to keep its 58 cents and donate the millions saved to some worthwhile charity.
excuse my ignorance. Given that he has 3 salaries will he have an increase of 0.58c x 3 per week?
The news of the 58c Cola increase sent my mind back to my childhood when mother used to send me to the greengrocer to buy “b’sitta ghall-brodu” (sitta was a half-penny).
Now as a pensioner I would probably get less for 58c than I got then for a “sitta”.