Three distinct options are usually raised in any discussion on the shipyards. The first is that, given their massive losses, they should be closed down; the second, that fresh efforts are made for the EU to give the yards another chance and allow the government to continue subsidising them for a new period; and the third, the one favoured by the government, that they should be privatised.

It is not difficult to understand the motivating force behind the first argument. Those who have been calling for closure have at the back of their mind not only the financial haemorrhage they have represented to the exchequer for so many years but also the political role they played in the island's politics. Many analysts are air-brushing this today in assessments of the shipyards.

Yet, the harm done to the dockyard when it was unashamedly used as political weapon was incalculable and, although the situation in this regard has changed today, it could not be rubbed off the list of factors that contributed to losses, at least over a time.

Those who go for the second option feel that, maybe, some formula can be found that would lead to the yards' financial viability, without the state having to dispose of the assets. The General Workers' Union, which is not free of blame for what has happened to the yards, has been suggesting the setting up of yet another task force. The problem is that the country has gone through this path before, not once, but many times. It is difficult to imagine how a new task force could now bring about a reversal of the situation when so many other missions, task forces and foreign experts had failed. Perhaps the greatest hope for recovery had been pinned on the seven-year reform programme that comes to an end this year. But even this has failed to deliver the goods.

The government is looking at the situation differently. It is arguing that, since no reform programme has worked, privatisation is the best course. It could have suggested closure and, as remarked in Parliament by the Finance Minister, given out the land for the building of hotels, marinas and other projects. However, it believed the country should still retain the shipyards as they could be valuable in the context of the island's developing maritime industry. But the yards had to be run profitably and the best prospects for this to happen lay in privatising the docks. As it happened, this was the right time to do this as, according to the Prime Minister, shipping business was growing.

By all accounts, the government's thinking makes more sense than the other options and could, if it succeeds in selling off the assets to the right people under the right conditions, bring about a situation when, for the first time in many years, the shipyards would start making a contribution to the economy. Is not this what we all want? Of course, care would have to be taken in handling the issue over excess manpower but the government is not unaware of its responsibilities, as experience has shown. Those who would remain in the employment of the new operators will stand a better chance of improving their conditions.

All things considered, the government's decision to go for privatisation is the best.