Editorial

Malta has made great strides in economic development over the years but there are a number of persistent problems that the island has been simply unable to tackle successfully over the years. It would seem that they have become so deeply embedded in the infrastructure that they have now become accepted as part and parcel of life in Malta. One such problem is the sheer inability of the government to tackle the problem of keeping the island clean. Another is that of providing factory accommodation when it is required.

A problem that keeps surfacing regularly is over the stiff port charges, making the Malta port one of the most expensive in Europe. None of these three problems has been solved and it does not seem the country is anywhere near to successfully tackling any of them, at least as yet anyway.

Another problem connected with the port that seems to have arisen now is over the services, or lack of them, at Grand Harbour and at the Freeport.

The Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise has described the situation as a "disturbing development", one that is posing a serious threat to the livelihood of important sectors and individual operators, particularly in manufacturing and import trade. When the country depends so much on having an efficient port, some of the points raised by the chamber's president, Louis Apap-Bologna, in The Times business section defies logic and call for immediate action.

According to the chamber, members in the import trade had experienced serious delays in receiving consignments. An equally serious problem is about the difficulties exporters are facing in finding sea transport for their goods to certain destinations. It would appear that some shipping lines are reducing their schedule or calling at Malta irregularly. Worse still, it says, certain lines have also decided to stop calling at Malta altogether.

Now this is not something that ought to be taken lightly by whoever is steering the island's economy. Such lines would obviously have strong, commercial reasons for bypassing Malta. A problem raised by ship owners is that of congestion in the Malta ports, which, according to the chamber, may be caused because of limited berthing space and lack of equipment, mainly cranes in Grand Harbour. What is all this about? Is there no one to monitor the situation at the ports?

According to the chamber, there are two cranes at Laboratory Wharf, one of which is permanently out of order and it was not extraordinary for the other to be out of service as well. Is not this incredible? Delays in the discharge of containers at the Freeport may also cause congestion. In the opinion of the chamber, the problem was compounded by the fact that priority was apparently being given to transhipment over local cargo.

Where do we go from here? In all likelihood, it will now be publicly explained how the situation has developed and what plans are in hand, if any, to solve current problems. If the situation at the ports is as bad as it is being made out to be, then it is time for those concerned to start tackling it with urgency.

It will definitely not be good news if the government were to merely set up a committee to go into it. Rather, speedier results will be obtained if the executives in charge of running the ports were to take decisions themselves and make sure they find solutions to the problems raised in the shortest time possible.