Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1505323
4 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 9 AUGUST 2023 4 NEWS MATTHEW VELLA THE Labour administration will be resolving anomalies between pre-1962 pensioners and lat- ter-day pensioners who are each paying different levels of con- tributions for different pension rates. Labour was reacting to a pro- posal by the Nationalist Party issued by its pensioners sec- tion APAN, saying the PN will pledge the 70/30 pension pay- able to those born after 31 De- cember 1961, to all pensioners. The PN said pensioners born before the end of 1961 had be- come second-class pension- ers, even though those enjoy- ing a higher pension after the threshold date were also paying higher contributions. "The PN demands that all pensioners who receive a two-thirds pen- sion should have an adequate compensation for the sharp rise in inflation that is eating out their monthly pension." Labour social policy minis- ter Michael Falzon reacted by saying that the government had "invested" in the elderly, by giving them peace of mind and stability in the face of chal- lenges. Falzon said it was the PN-led administration which in 2006, had decided to actually 'create' two tiers of pensioners – those born before and after 1962 – by just passing on two-thirds of the annual Cost of Living Ad- justment compensation. The full COLA was only added in 2008. Falzon said Labour had in- creased pensions from one budget to the other – up to €70 more per week – and said Labour will be introducing changes so that the highest pensionable income for those born before 1962 will increase at a faster pace, to reach the same levels as those who were born after 1962. Labour MP Romilda Zarb ac- cused the PN of not being cred- ible on its social policy pro- posals. "This government has helped families and the elderly to be able to withstand chal- lenges... we're not resting on our laurels, or on the fact that Malta currently has the lowest unemployment rate in the EU. This government has its hand on the pulse of the nation, even at times of unprecedented in- ternational challenges." Government to address pre-1962 pensioners anomaly on lower rates Social policy minister Michael Falzon says government will be addressing pensions anomaly flagged in statement by the PN CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The volcanoes are at least six kilometres wide and rise more than 150m from the seafloor. The expedition on board the Meteor, a Ger- man research vessel, was coordinated by the University of Malta and the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics (OGS) of Trieste. The new volcanoes form part of a series of sub- merged volcanoes, which were discovered in the same area in 2019. Researchers collected rock samples, including lava deposits, to be analysed in the coming months. The rock studies will shed light on the volca- noes' ages and magma characteristics. The scanning of previously unexplored seabed along the Sicily Channel took place between 16 July and 5 August. Researcher also discovered the wreck of a 100m long and 17m wide ship at a depth of 110m on the Nameless Bank (Banco Senza Nome) to the east of the Italian island of Pantelleria. Other researchers who took part in the expe- dition came from Germany's Geomar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, the US's Mon- terey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, the Vic- toria University of Wellington in New Zealand, the universities of Birmingham, Oxford and Ed- inburgh in the UK, and Kiel University in Ger- many. The German research vessel Meteor New volcanoes are at least six kilometres wide, rise more than 150m from seafloor