Cargo Handling has 'healthy financial situation'

Cargo Handling Company Ltd had not gone into liquidation and does not plan to do so, the company's secretary and financial controller told a court yesterday.

Enrico Overend, who as from this year also occupies the post of acting managing director, explained that when the media reported that the company had gone into liquidation the board of directors were surprised because the company was in "a healthy financial situation".

The company, he said, has a turnover of Lm4 million, debts amount to between Lm400,000 and Lm500,000 and the net profit stands at an average Lm400,000 per annum.

"The company had never gone into liquidation, never considered the option and is not planning to go into liquidation," Mr Overend said.

He took the witness stand before Mr Justice Noel Cuschieri in the First Hall of the Civil Court during the proceedings filed by four clerks against the company.

The four women - Gemma Borg, Mary Darmanin, Rita Debono and Tanya Baldacchino - are claiming that their employer was denying them overtime in an abusive, unjustified and illegal manner constituting discrimination against them on the basis of sex.

Earlier on this year, they asked the court to issue a garnishee order for Lm141,000 against the company and the court upheld the request.

The company then filed an application arguing that the women's request for the warrant to be issued against it was malicious and vexatious. They had never called upon the company to provide security for their claims, as required by law, and the warrant had been issued in an attempt to cast a bad light on the company.

Although the employees' case against the company had been pending for over four years, they had only requested the issue of the warrant after the government had publicly issued a call for tenders for cargo handling services.

The media had commented extensively on the garnishee order and on the facts of the case that were still sub judice. Certain sections of the media had reported that the company was in liquidation. This, the company claimed was false information and it had filed four libel suits on this issue.

Mr Overend testified the request for the issue of a garnishee order had been filed in the same week when the company was to submit an expression of interest for the cargo handling tender.

He explained that the Cargo Handling Company contract expires on June 30 next year.

He was present during a meeting between the women and General Workers' Union secretary general Tony Zarb.

The women had referred to a court case won by colleagues and asked Mr Zarb to compensate them on the same level. Mr Zarb had told them he would look into the implications before getting back to them.

Mr Justice Cuschieri also heard Ms Borg explain how, since the beginning of the year, she and her colleagues were worried that they would not be paid the money due as the company's contract expires next year.

During a meeting, Mr Zarb had assured them that if the company - of which GWU is a shareholder - was awarded the tender the women would retain their job.

However, he could not ensure that they could retain their job if the tender was awarded to another firm. For this reason, the four women felt they wanted a guarantee that the company would be able to pay them if the case was decided in their favour.

Ms Borg said she was not aware that, following the garnishee order, two separate amounts of money had been frozen in two of the company's separate bank accounts - one at BOV and the other at HSBC.

At the end of the sitting, lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Kris Busietta for the women informed the court that they were releasing the company's money that had been mistakenly frozen in one of the banks.

Lawyer Aron Mifsud Bonnici is representing the company.