
Monday, 7th July 2008
Lame ducks and business realities
Unlike those organisations which acted all surprised when the privatisation of Malta Shipbuilding was announced, the average taxpayer (mostly the middle class) who has paid out hundreds of millions in subsidies, was not.
In today's world lame ducks have no future and business is business. No one wants to be part of a loss-making entity. The idea that your place of work is a charity which sustains the individual under any circumstance has lost all its relevance, if it ever had any.
Privatising the shipyards has to be seen solely in this context and if successful it'll prove to be the best thing that ever happened to this notorious white elephant.
It is now in the hands of all the stakeholders, who owe a little bit too much to the rest of us, to see to it that this one last chance of turning the shipyards to profitability reaches fruition. Collaboration is fundamental, but to collaborate you need ideas, plans and the foresight to see how, why and when these plans should be implemented. It shouldn't be just a buzzword used to buy time, waiting for the others to do the dirty work for you.
It is in no one's interest to put spokes in the wheels, especially those who in words heralded a new political season. The lame duck has to go and live up to the business reality in this globalised world.







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Comments
Just continue with your blinkers on. The MLP thrives on characters like you.
By the way - save on travel taxes - buy a one way ticket to Timbuctoo.
The privatization has nothing to do with lowering of taxes. Had that been so, the government would be paying you for not paying taxes after the privatization of Mid-Med, Bank of Valletta, Sea Malta etc.
Would be nice if all services are provided free of charge (and free of taxes) all the time by all governments. It is simply not possible and isn't done elsewhere.
The shipyards are insolvent and once subsidies stop, bankruptcy follows. Bankrupt companies lay off ALL employees. Privatization will save a substantial number of jobs and the rest will hopefully be relocated and others will receive an early retirement package.
No one relishes inheriting unemployed persons. Past experience indicates that our economy is performing well enough that it will be able to absorb the ones who will end up without work