MMA far from shipshape - Mizzi

Labour MP Joe Mizzi said yesterday that the Malta Maritime Authority (MMA) was "far from shipshape", lacking efficiency and accountability.

He complained during the debate on the MMA estimates in parliament that government agencies were employing people simply because of their political beliefs. Sometimes vacancies were created for no good reason.

Agencies, corporations and authorities had been created to raise efficiency and reduce costs, but that was not happening. Not only was the MMA costing taxpayers far more than the government departments it replaced, but it lacked accountability.

Mr Mizzi said the situation in Grand Harbour was disastrous, with neglect everywhere, very poor maintenance of the quays and harbour equipment, raising the risk of accidents.

Much used to be said about obligations under international maritime conventions, but no action was taken to even stop dumping in Grand Harbour. No serious action was taken, for example, following the contamination of Rinella Bay last year.

Why was waste from ships burnt at Corradino, with toxic emissions affecting residents of Cottonera?

Why was action not being taken against leakage from the tank cleaning farm or sewage spillage in Grand Harbour? A barge provided to clean the sea surface of Grand Harbour had not been used for months.

The MMA boasted of having a computerised system for the allocation of berths in Grand Harbour, yet a ship which left harbour was still shown on computer as occupying a berth a week later, and other ships had to be shifted around.

In some cases, weather reports were not consulted before ships started loading or unloading in harbour.

Grand Harbour was seriously lacking safety precautions, when it was the MMA's duty to ensure the safety of ships in and around Malta. Navigational aids were lacking and Malta was still ill-equipped to handle major oil spillage accidents. Was it true that the MMA was refusing to assume responsibility for combatting oil pollution?

So much for the efficiency that the MMA was supposed to have.

Mr Mizzi said the minister should explain who was responsible for, and how much was paid for, an MMA advert in Lloyds List which was actually detrimental to Malta.

Mr Mizzi observed that the MMA report spoke of overlapping of roles within the authority itself. Why had this been allowed to happen? And what would happen now, would people be dismissed?

He also referred to courses being given to barklori. Courses on passenger safety were welcome, he said, but barklori should not have the same course as speedboat owners.

Turning to the Cirkewwa project, he said this was supposed to be an all-weather harbour, but it would not be. This was yet another project which had been delayed and was over budget.

He insisted that there was still plenty of potential for the development of Malta's harbours. There was no doubt that reform was needed in harbour operations and all parties should play their part. That included the government.

Some time ago, efforts were made in the European Parliament to push through a directive that would have enabled ships' crews to unload their cargo without seeking assistance from harbour workers, endangering the latter's employment. Happily, the European Parliament rejected the directive, but the Maltese government had not been among those who resisted it.

Now a fresh attempt was about to be made to get this proposed directive approved. The government should declare that Nationalist MEPs would vote against it.

Labour MP Josè Herrera said the financial performance of the maritime authority was not what it should be. The authority made a profit of Lm1.1 million last year, slightly more than in the previous year, but far lower than in the years from 1996 to 2001.

The minister needed to explain how financial projections were being made. Last year the authority's surplus had been projected at Lm500,000, less than half the actual result. And for next year the surplus was only projected to be Lm300,000. How had this figure been reached?

The important thing, however, was the contribution the MMA made to the country. He said that certain advantages Malta enjoyed to attract ship registration might have to be removed because of EU membership. The government should not hide such problems if they cropped up, and the Opposition would seek to work with the government so that Malta could continue to be successful in this niche market.

Dr Herrera said yachting had proved to be a natural niche market for Malta. This sector was flourishing and Malta was the ideal country for it. But the progress the country was supposed to have made was not being translated into cash.

He said that the authority had overnight increased its borrowing to Lm1.7 million. Could there not have been a form of capital injection instead?

Replying, Communications Minister Censu Galea said the authority was increasingly assuming a regulatory role and shedding the commercial one. Therefore it no longer had some revenue streams it had before. For example, it no longer collected passenger tax as that had now been passed on to the Viset consortium, which operated the cruise liner facilities.

And one could not compare the authority with former government departments, as Mr Mizzi had done, because maritime activity in Malta was radically different. There were now some 13,000 vessels in Maltese waters, double the number of just five years ago.

He said the licensing of all those who drove boats had initially been received with complaints. But those who had since followed the MMA courses for licencees had found them very useful for maritime safety purposes. The course for barklori was not the same as for speedboat drivers. And it was worth pointing out that the number of barklori was now on the increase as activity in Grand Harbour was rising. They now ferried cruise liner passengers, rather than sailors as in the past.

Mr Galea said five years had passed since the sinking of the (Maltese-registered tanker) Erika and it was hoped all would soon know who may be charged with the case. His appeal was that decisions on the case would not be sent to the government through the newspapers but through diplomatic channels. He should not have to read the French newspapers to learn whether somebody would be arraigned or not.

Referring to the implications of EU membership, mentioned earlier by Dr Herrera, Mr Galea said legislation would be published shortly to ensure that operators knew their duties, rights and obligations.

Referring to Mr Mizzi's comments, Mr Galea said the ship tracking system was ensuring better management of Maltese harbours and would be especially useful should there be an accident.

Mr Galea said he would look into the advert Mr Mizzi had spoken about.

He said the MMA had never been responsible for the Oil Pollution Response Centre, but the authority was holding talks with the administrators to ensure that its own responsibilities in this area could be properly exercised.

Grand Harbour, he said, was not in the state Mr Mizzi had made it out to be. The MMA cleaned the quays frequently, but rubbish still remained a problem.

Mr Galea insisted that reform in harbour practices could only come about if everybody pulled the same rope. Some workers' representatives sometimes confused their role with commercial activity.

He denied that weather forecasts were ignored before ships were brought into harbour. Indeed, there were sometimes complaints by importers when harbour pilots decided it was not safe for ships to approach the harbour.

As for the proposed port works directive, no one knew what format the new directive would have and whether its impact would be different from the original. One could not say how one would vote before seeing it. One should say, however, that the original directive, as eventually watered down, included safeguards to protect harbour workers. Government policy was to ensure that port workers would continue to enjoy their living standards. This meant they should be paid a fair rate for their services but not for work they did not do. He was confident that with reform and new areas of activity, port workers would see their income rise.

Turning to the Gozo ferry facilities, Mr Galea said costs had risen because of Mepa conditions. The ultimate aim was for Cirkewwa harbour to be operational for as many days as possible, even in rough weather.

The estimates were aproved after a division, the opposition voting against.