‘More people’ at risk of poverty

The Labour Party yesterday sounded the alarm over the number of people at risk of poverty, saying the figure had risen by a third to reach 82,000.

Labour deputy leader Anġlu Farrugia noted that Malta had registered the highest cost of living increase in the eurozone in June, placing further burdens on workers, pensioners and the vulnerable.

People defined as being “at risk of poverty” are those who fall below a certain income threshold, which in the EU has been set at 60 per cent of the median income.

In Malta, about 15 per cent of the population – roughly 60,000 — are estimated to be on the threshold of poverty, according to the latest EU figures based on 2009 data.

However, speaking at a press conference in front of Parliament yesterday, Dr Farrugia said the true figure was now more like 82,000.

He said even the quality of life of middle class families and the self-employed was affected.

In just one year, the cost of items used by families on a daily basis had jumped. Transport, for example, had gone up by 7.8 per cent, food by 5.6 per cent, education by 4.4 per cent, utility, gas and fuels by four per cent and health by 1.3 per cent, Dr Farrugia said.

All these increases were caused by the governance of Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, which lacked direction, he said.

Dr Gonzi only looked out for the interest of those who shared his brand of politics and, in fact, had given himself and other Cabinet members a €500 weekly raise, Dr Farrugia added.

People were just a number used to calculate the taxes due to make good for the country’s debt, created by Nationalist governments, which amounted to €4.3 billion.

The Labour Party would not tolerate that people continue to be burdened by more taxes to “make good for the arrogance, waste, squandering and corruption” of the directionless government.

Apart from the having the highest increase in the cost of living, Malta had registered one of the lowest increases in salaries in the eurozone, Dr Farrugia added.