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18 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR Matthew Vella MANAGING EDITOR Saviour Balzan Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 31 MARCH 2019 1 April 2009 Steep increase in gas cylinder prices THE price of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) will be going up by an average of 35% as from today in view of the rising expenses of production of gas for Enemalta Corporation, the state company that produces fuels. The last time the price of gas increased steeply was under Alfred Sant's Labour administration in 1997, to the criticism of the Nationalist Party then in Opposition. In a statement issued yesterday afternoon, on a public holiday, Enemalta claimed this hefty increase was needed to cover the rising expenses which "do not recover the full cost of the product" and the difference was being cov- ered by a monthly Government subsidy which is to be €150,000. It contended that the Corporation had subsi- dised the consumption of gas cylinders for the last two months – February and March – by "up to €800,000". Enemalta Corporation said that the increase had been approved by the Malta Resources Au- thority (MRA), the regulator for utilities. Enemalta said that the price hike increase to the regulator was requested "in view of the fact that the retail price at which LPG was being sold did not even recoup the direct costs of the prod- uct". In submitting its proposal to the MRA, En- emalta said it had based its workings "on the price of LPG forwards, Enemalta's cost base for its Gas Division and the expected sales of LPG & Propane" for this year. "In its calculations, Enemalta estimated that the various LPG gas cylinders would have to increase on average by €0.40 per kilo (including 18 per cent VAT)," the corporation said in its statement. However, "on direction of Government", Enemalta said it was "not passing on the full increase to consumers" but the retail price was being increased by €0.167 per kilo (including 18% VAT) instead. The remaining shortfall would continue to be subsidised directly by Government to the tune of €150,000, Enemalta explained. Meanwhile, Enemalta also announced an increase in the prices of fuels for April as from today, with the price of Unleaded petrol and LRP increasing by €0.02 to €0.99 and €1.06 respec- tively. The price of diesel also increased by €0.01 to €0.95, while the prices of kerosene and gasoil did not change. The price of Thin Fuel Oil 200 increased by €3 to €352.00, while that of Thin Fuel Oil 450 and 900 increased by €4 and €6 respectively to €339.00 and €319.00. Labour yesterday accused the government of being cut off from the economic and social reality of the country, adding that governments in other parts of the world were aiding families and indus- tries by reducing energy prices. MaltaToday 10 years ago Quote of the Week Piracy is as piracy does Editorial I reiterate my call to all states to refrain from hinder- ing and criminalising the work of NGOs who are try- ing to fill the ever-increasing gap in rescue capacity. Dunja Mijatović, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights THE incident in which three migrants among a group 100 men and women, commandeered a motor tanker that was about to take them back to Libya against their will, and forced the crew to change course towards Malta, has been described as an act of 'piracy'. The 'El Hiblu 1' "hijack" prompted a storm of rhetoric from Italy's firebrand minister Matteo Salvini of the far-right Lega party, who accused those involved of being 'pirates'. As is only to be expected, the same view was taken by many people locally. Yet it is a highly misleading portrayal of events. Piracy is a crime involving the hijack of vessels for the purposes of plunder. It is by no means a thing of the past: present-day ex- amples include the abduction of ships – cargo, crew and all – to be held to ransom by pirates operating off the Somalian coast of the Gulf of Aden. But the 'El Hiblu 1' scenario is very different. Here, the intention was not to take possession of the vessel for the purposes of extortion or profiteering. Those 100 people were migrants fleeing persecution and torture in Libya. They were rescued in Libyan territorial waters by the 'El Hiblu 1', and took the drastic action they took only when they realised – 6 km off the Libyan coast – that the ship was attempting to return them to Libya. Some of them even jumped overboard in desperation, and had to be rescued a second time. It is an unusual breed of 'pirate', who chooses to walk the plank himself. No, the reality is very different from the picture painted by Salvini and his devotees. If a crime was committed, it took the form of at- tempting to return survivors to a place where they faced a well-founded fear of persecution. That is, in itself, illegal and a violation of inter- national law. At the same time, however, the captain and crew of 'El Hiblu 1' cannot be blamed for the decision. The reality is that the European Un- ion is facilitating this illegal 'refoulement', by financing the Libyan coast-guard to intercept boat migrants at sea and to force commercial vessels to return rescued migrants to the Liby- an navy. 'El Hiblu 1' had no choice but to obey this directive. Clearly, if this misguided EU policy persists, we can only expect incidents like 'El Hiblu 1' to be repeated. As Sea-Watch put it this week: "The horrifying conditions for people in Libya have been widely documented by a wide array of human rights monitors, including UN agen- cies. Migrants and refugees are known to be systematically subjected to arbitrary imprison- ment, torture, sexual violence, kidnapping, ex- tortion, slavery and even murder. It is entirely legitimate for people found in distress at sea to reject being returned to Libya." Instead of directing anger and opprobrium at desperate people who took desperate measures to avoid torture, it would be wiser for Europe- an leaders to reassess the EU's own role in the real crimes that are happening in Libya, and that these people are fleeing from. Instead, Europe is allowing itself to become an accomplice in Libya's increasingly unaccep- table human rights infringements. This cannot go on. It's not just about numbers This week, proposals were submitted to ad- dress Malta's problem of gender inequality in political representation. Much has been made about the proposal to extend Parliament by an additional 12 seats to achieve this aim; as well as the introduction of a quota system. But while there may be legitimate reasons to question these aspects, they remain small de- tail in a much bigger picture. The underlying issue involves a deep-seated cultural mindset that may require genera- tions to change. There are also structural is- sues – working hours, remuneration, the lack of family-friendly facilities, etc – which make politics even less attractive for women. Making Parliament full-time would not only address conflicts of interest that arise from the fact that MPs hold on to their jobs; but it would also make the career pathway more attractive in general. The package of legislative proposals also ad- dresses these concerns. Apart from introduc- ing quotas, which are in themselves subject to a 20-year sunset clause, there are also gender mainstreaming and family-friendly measures, including family-friendly working hours for parliamentary sittings, an opt-in full-time backbencher career, more women chairing parliamentary committees, adoption of anti- harassment policies in the House with a formal procedure to investigate complaints, and nurs- ing and childcare rooms. Additionally, the laws introduce state fund- ing for political parties to recruit more women in a bid to reach a 40% balanced candidates list. However, we should remind ministers that the onus of this law should be on the larger parties who achieve over 6-10% of the national vote, since smaller parties tend to find it hard- er to recruit candidates from either gender to a party that suffers the bias of Malta's bipartisan divide. All in all, however, this is a welcome de- velopment for Maltese politics. One can only hope that it will propel a new generation of men and women to the House.