MPs hit out at MMA inefficiency

Labour MPs attacked the Malta Maritime Authority over inefficiencies and poor financial projections during the debate on the authority's estimates yesterday. The shipping register came in for praise however.

Joe Mizzi (MLP) said the creation of the authority had not led to greater efficiency, transparency or accountability. This and other authorities had led to squandering and mismanagement. It was not the concept itself which was wrong, but the way how the authorities were appointed and monitored. What had happened was the creation of small empires.

The activities of these authorities in the past were carried out at a fraction of current costs.

The Mgarr/Cirkewwa was an example of inefficiency, with the project having gone past its deadlines, costs had gone through the roof and there was mystery on how funds were spent.

What was worse was that the MMA was actually supposed to be the regulator, not an operator. Its activities created a conflict of interest. Indeed, the harbours project showed a failure by the regulator itself!

Much was said about the Maritime Trade Centre, but this appeared to be a case where the government issued the funds and the benefits accrued only for certain blue-eyed boys.

Mr Mizzi said the MMA was lagging in the transposition of EU rules while ratification of various IMO conventions was overdue.

The Labour MP attacked the MMA over poor maintenance, raising questions on the safety of Grand Harbour bunkering operations and the state of the "dolphin" opposite St Lucien Tower in Marsaxlokk.

Near the Deep Water Quay, because of a traffic deviation, heavy container trucks were being driven over the quay without any awareness of weight considerations, apart from the security risk when other ships were being unloaded.

There were still no wind speed indicators in Grand Harbour and an accident was waiting to happen, especially as the tonnage of cruise ships grew. People bringing ships into harbour still stuck their finger out to check wind direction! Should Grand Harbour be declared unsafe, the local cruise industry would be dumped into oblivion.

Mr Mizzi said no investment was being made in merchant shipping activities in Grand Harbour, even in the area of waste disposal. There was a state of abandonment in several wharves but the MMA boasted that all was well.

The government was now proposing a reform at the MMA, What this would mean was that more blue-eyed boys would be given new positions while others, including less prominent Nationalists would lose their positions.

As for ports reform, the emphasis was being made on cargo handling, yet the reform should be much wider including efficiency, investment, training, and business development.

Many important sites within Grand Harbour continued to be grossly under-utilised. But the government was only bent on blaming the workers for high cargo handling costs. There was no denying that the port workers needed training and new equipment, but that was only a small port of the problems at the ports.

One of the problems was how connections to the European mainland had actually declined and, with the demise of Sea Malta, it now cost Lm150 more to ship a trailer to Italy.

Would the minister guarantee that the reform would yield lower costs? Would he resign otherwise?

José Herrera (MLP) asked how a projected surplus of Lm93,000 had turned into a deficit of Lm1.7 million in the year ending September 2005. Now the MMA was projecting a Lm2.2 million deficit for the current year. Why? Was it a result of new impairment rules?

The value of works in progress and assets showed a difference of Lm3 million from last year. Such differences made the estimates totally unreliable.

Dr Herrera said the reason for a number of headings of expenditure had not been explained.

Why were operating expenses projected to rise by 500 per cent over the coming year in the Ports Directorate?

Why was a lower profit being projected by the Yachting Directorate? It was good that the operation of yacht marinas would be privatised. The MMA should only be a regulator. There could, however, be something wrong in the tariffs structure.

Yachts were getting bigger, they thus took up more berths, but the revenue from the space sold was less.

The Merchant Shipping Directorate was doing well with the registry seeing a slight increase in tonnage and volume after two years of slippage. Still Malta was far from its 1999 peak. Significantly, the quality of the register had improved, with the average age of Maltese flagged ships now 9-10 years. Clearly the Maltese flag was not a flag of convenience.

Dr Herrera praised the stand taken by Malta and Cyprus during the debate on ship pollution rules, with both countries insisting that European law should not be tougher than for other regions, reducing the competitiveness of European registers. Still the European Parliament had adopted proposals practically as originally tabled, pointing the need for more effective lobbying, Dr Herrera said.

Winding up, Minister Censu Galea said Malta would continue to do all that it could so that decisions by the EU would be such as not to place undue burdens on Europe's own shipping registers.

Referring to Dr Herrera's remarks on the accounts, Mr Galea said that at the Ports Directorate, costs would rise 500 per cent for reasons of repairs and maintenance - which would rise threefold - port development, an increase in staff costs for training and impairment expenses. Indeed, Dr Herrera was correct in his reference to the impact of impairement costs on the MMA's accounts.

Mr Galea said Malta could make headway in the yachting sector only if it could provide more high quality berths and ancillary facilities.

The minister said Mr Mizzi could find nothing right in the MMA. If he was saying there was corruption or something irregular in the authority in the way tenders were awarded or postings made, he should explain.

Who had led him to believe that the MMA had fallen back in the adoption of EU and IMO regulations? There were infringement procedures involving Maltese ship borne workers but Malta was defending its position.

Mr Galea said that port reform was aimed at attracting new activity to Malta. Malta had to exploit the growth potential of the Mediterranean cargo route. Workers were increasingly realising that current practices had to be changed. Only that way could workers' income be sustained.

As for the Maritime Trade Centre, Mr Galea said the new offices would better enable the authority to perform its functions.

The comment about somebody using his finger to check wind direction were an insult to workers, Mr Galea said.

The minister's opening speech is being reported separately.

The estimates were later approved after a division.