Sense of maturity needed on shipyards

David Camilleri's appeal (June 26) to the government to be responsible, to show a sign of maturity, not to be afraid of challenges and to choose the hard rather than the easy way out in tackling the Malta Drydocks' decades old problem, overlooks completely what the governments of Malta have done for the ex-Royal Naval Dockyard since independence, under Ġorġ Borg Olivier, Dominic Mintoff, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, Eddie Fenech Adami, Alfred Sant and Lawrence Gonzi. And what has been the result of choosing the hard way advocated by Mr Camilleri in tackling this problem? Massive debts which had to be made good by the Maltese taxpayer.

The writer compares the loss-making enterprise to a plant that has to be nourished. To me it looks more like an old tree, two centuries old according to the writer, with set roots and branches that have not responded to all the pruning and care lavished on it. In his article, Damocles And The Dockyard in the Business section of the same issue, Lino Spiteri goes into great detail on what has ailed this enterprise and there is no need to repeat the obvious.

The drydocks are not for sale; definitely not as a going concern in their present state. Nor are they a holy cow.

Let us hope that a sense of responsibility and maturity will be shown, not only by the government but by all the parties concerned, to solve this problem, once and for all, with the least possible hurt to the workers involved and to the country's economy.