€100 an hour for some, €4 for others
When a consultant receives €100 an hour for his work to a government agency, one of the many that are mushrooming seemingly without control, those below the at-risk-of-poverty line and those who only get between just €4 and €7 an hour, take a deep breath in disbelief.
Income inequality is a fact of life but the disequilibrium that exists today is widening so much it is causing concern and hardship across an increasing spectrum of society. Never mind statistics for a while, the feeling on the ground is that more and more people are finding it difficult to make ends meet.
The recent report that former tourism minister Edward Zammit Lewis is getting paid €100 an hour for his consultancy work to Identity Malta has only helped to put into a sharper focus the plight of thousands, including 95,000 pensioners, struggling to keep to their weekly household budget.
Only recently, the government, acting in an unblushingly benevolent manner, distributed a tax refund, ranging between €50 and €60, to some 200,000 people. The amount was considered risible by most as it was nowhere near enough to ease the financial difficulties they experience today.
It is infuriating that the growing...