Low-income earners like those on the minimum wage, pension or social services cannot wait six months to be able to purchase essential items, ADPD said, saying the cost-of-living adjustment should be awarded twice a year.

Addressing a press conference in front of Parliament on Saturday, ADPD chairperson Carmel Cacopardo emphasized that because of the rise in costs, the COLA should start being given twice - on 1 July and on January 1.

Meanwhile, ADPD Deputy Chairperson Sandra Gauci highlighted how the current circumstances of rising cost of imports bring to the fore the fact that :our agriculture sector has been weakened".

"It is no coincidence that this has happened when one sees the attitude of successive governments towards this sector. The haphazard expansion of the roads infrastructure has increasingly eaten up valuable agricultural land which in turn is impacting on our daily lives," she said.

Gauci emphasized that it was futile for the government to introduce incentive schemes to encourage young people to take up agriculture at the same time that it continues to bulldoze through arable land and reducing many a farmer to tears.

"It is also imperative that the authority responsible for Consumer Affairs takes the necessary action before it receives complaints: it needs to be proactive. The rapid cost of living increase is hitting the low-income earners the most – they urgently need to be protected against those who try all tricks to squeeze out any extra profit in the circumstances."

Cacopardo also once again called for the minimum wage to become a living wage, saying that all workers have the right to a fair wage.

"The minimum wage should be sufficient in order for the necessary basic family requirements. Our economy should reflect human needs," he said.