The cost of living is hitting hard. Many are struggling. Not Minister of Social Accommodation Roderick Galdes. Those who can’t make ends meet should give Galdes a call. Because Galdes opens new doors (Niftħu bibien ġodda) and works miracles. Last year, Galdes survived on just €162.50 per month. That’s €1,950 for the entire year.

Everybody should stop moaning about inflation. If Galdes can survive comfortably on less than €2,000 a year, so can you. Besides, Galdes also has a €248,989 loan to pay off.

Life under Labour is great, for Galdes. We’re the best in Europe. We have the best ministers. Find me one minister in the entire European continent who can achieve Galdes’ feat – surviving on €5 a day.

In his latest assets’ declaration, Galdes declared €65,532 in earnings during 2022 from his ministerial salary. He declared no other income. During that year he managed to pay off €10,000 of his loan and increased his deposits by €53,582. In the entire year, Galdes spent only €1,950.

Maybe his wife, Joanne, is keeping him afloat. In the previous year’s declaration, she had no income of her own. But that was quickly sorted by Environment Minister Miriam Dalli who appointed Galdes’ wife to the board of directors of Wasteserv.

Joanne Galdes has no expertise in waste collection or its treatment. She has no qualifications or tertiary education in the field. In fact, she seems to have no expertise in anything at all.

But since when has competence been necessary to be appointed a director by Labour? Where is Ramona Frendo – the one screaming “Because we believe in meritocracy” out of Labour’s billboard?

We don’t know how much Wasteserv paid Joanne Galdes last year. But, judging by the amount of money her husband stashed away, it must be pretty substantial.

In his declaration of assets, Galdes tried to conceal his multiple properties by listing them in his scrawny handwriting. Apart from his Luqa residence, Galdes owns, with his wife, a house in Qormi, another in Gozo and an unconverted property in Siġġiewi. They also own two offices in Qormi, a studio apartment in the UK and a house with surrounding agricultural land in Sicily.

Galdes is still in his 40s. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Urban Planning and a Master’s degree in Small Island studies. He’s been a parliamentary secretary or minister since 2013 when he was still in his 30s.

When he became a parliamentary secretary in 2013, he only had around €23,000 in savings – €18,592 at HSBC and £3,100 at HSBC UK. He already had a €166,947 mortgage and another €9,000 personal loan.

Since then, he’s acquired the unconverted property in Siġġiewi, two offices in Qormi and the house with surrounding open land in Sicily. And his savings have more than tripled from around €23,000 to €77,172.

He hasn’t sold any property. He had no other income apart from his government salary. He must have inherited those properties. Or he might have inherited huge amounts of money. Maybe he’s won the lottery. Or maybe it’s another of his miracles.

Labour’s ministers seem to live on a different planet. In a year of devastating increases in the cost of living, our cabinet of ministers prospered. The war in Ukraine hasn’t touched them.

Labour are exploiting their position of power to create monopolies for their friends and put even more wealth into their pockets- Kevin Cassar

Our down-to-earth prime minister managed to save half his entire salary in 2022. He increased his bank savings and investments by €32,000 in one year alone. No wonder he wouldn’t even list his earnings. Once again, the man who should be setting the example failed to declare how much money he earned last year.

Under the section ‘earnings 2022’, Robert Abela contemptuously wrote: “Prime minister’s salary.”

He is another one who also works miracles.

His wife did not declare any earnings. His daughter is at a private school.

He has no loans. He’s regularly going back and forth to spend time on a luxury yacht that he might or might not own at Marina di Ragusa. He owns a seaview penthouse and a garage in Marsascala, a two-tumolo ODZ villa in the outskirts of Żejtun and a large farmhouse in Xewkija. Yet, he managed to save half his salary.

His deputy, Chris Fearne, increased his bank deposits by €50,000 last year.

Byron Camilleri’s joint account with his wife exploded from €1,455 to €40,800. He deposited another €4,000 into his own account. In one year, Camilleri managed to save €43,345 out of his €65,533.85 income.

Dalli’s wealth increased by €20,000, Silvio Schembri’s savings by €15,000, Julia Farrugia Portelli’s by €35,000.

Those declarations of assets must be hard to stomach and even harder to believe for those facing hardship.

With unaffordable housing, widening inequality and rampant corruption, nurses are right in their consternation at Labour’s stingy refusal to offer them decent pay terms.

It is hard for those needing loans to survive not to be angry and upset at the unexplained wealth of some of our ministers.

It’s tough for hardworking families to believe that Abela can even start to understand their predicament. It’s impossible for them to accept his utter contempt for the electorate and his arrogant refusal to even list his income.

As the public watches in disbelief at their own meagre wealth disappearing into an abyss of debt, our ministers multiply their own savings and amass even more properties.

No wonder Labour’s always on the side of Joseph Portelli, Michael Stivala, Sandro Chetcuti, db, Polidano iċ-ċaqnu, Gasan, Zammit Tabona, Bonnici Brothers, Construct Furniture and even Christian Borg.

No wonder they’ve turned our democracy into an oligarchy. They are exploiting their position of power to create monopolies for their friends and put even more wealth into their pockets.

Direct orders and political appointments are costing us billions.

Franklin Roosevelt once commented that government by organised money is just as dangerous as government by organised mob. In Malta, we have both.

Kevin Cassar is a professor of surgery.