The Ministry for the Infrastructure, Transport and Communications said today that an investigation into the contract entered into by Malta Shipyards with regard to a major ship conversion project were in an advanced stage.

The GWU last week demanded a public inquiry into the contract, saying the shipyard stood to lose as much as €40 million from it. The ministry had said that figure was grossly exaggerated but had pointed to low productivity as the main reason for the contract problems. The GWU in a counter statement blamed the executive management and said it would not rest until all the contract details were made known.

The ministry today disclosed that on December 18 last year Minister Austin Gatt had written to the shipyard’s board of directors asking them to investigate what had caused Malta Shipyards to find itself “in a disadvantageous contractual and legal position” over the ship conversion contract with Fairmount Heavy Lift.

As a result of that directive, auditors PriceWaterhouseCoopers had been engaged to carry out investigations, and these were now in an advanced stage.

“These investigations will make it possible to establish all the facts,” the ministry said.

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