Labour MP writes to ombudsman
Labour MP Joe Mizzi, party spokesman for transport and resources, has written to the Ombudsman calling on him to investigate the Office of Fair Competition, the Consumer Affairs Department and the Malta Resources Authority in connection with the electricity and water surcharge.
According to the complaint to the Ombudsman, filed by lawyer Justyne Caruana, Mr Mizzi on 19 January wrote to the director of the Office of Fair Competition, the director of Consumer Affairs and to the president of the Malta Resources Authority, lodging a complaint about Chapters 378, 379 and 423 respectively of the laws of Malta.
Mr Mizzi’s letters were acknowledged but he heard nothing else from the bodies he had made his complaints to, Dr Caruana writes in her letter to the Ombudsman. Judicial protests were subsequently filed, and two counter protests were filed. Contact was also made by the director of
the Office of Fair Competition and a meeting was held to discuss points of a legal nature.
But no reference was made to the interim measures and to date there has been no other communication from the Office of Fair Competition or the Consumer Affairs Department. The Malta Resources Authority has made no communication apart from the acknowledgement and its counter protest.
Dr Caruana wrote that Mr Mizzi’s complaint contesting the validity of legal notices published by the government to increase the utility rates, seemed to have been ignored and this failure should be investigated by the Office of the Ombudsman to ensure that the law was being observed and that consumer interests are protected.
