Whistleblower captain says PM had been informed
In a bid to defend itself, Gozo Channel Co. resorted to character assassination rather than bring out the truth, a ferry captain charged yesterday.
Replying to a counter protest by the company, Capt. Mario Grech said Gozo Channel was more interested in discrediting him than tackling his complaints. In fact, they had never reacted to them even when he had filed a similar protest in April 2009, a copy of which had been sent to the Prime Minister.
In a judicial protest last week, Capt. Grech made a number of claims about serious safety breaches on the part of the company.
He said he had stopped three ferries from operating the crossing for safety reasons.
Gozo Channel insisted the claims were unfounded and warned of further legal action against him.
Capt. Grech said the Prime Minister had informed him that his complaint would be forwarded to the Finance Minister but he had heard nothing since. It was clear that Gozo Channel did not have the service it offered at heart because it only addressed his complaints when these were made public, he said.
After he had filed his first judicial protest, Gozo Channel substituted a person he suspected was not qualified for the job and also issued instructions to hold the necessary emergency drills, he said. Capt. Grech said he still had not been officially informed about the inquiry ordered by the Finance Minister after his judicial protest last week and hoped this would be held by an independent board with experience in the maritime industry.
Capt. Grech, who, after his second judicial protest, was asked not to report for work while still being paid in full, condemned his employer's "dictatorial attitude", which, he added, was irresponsible and revealed its intolerance to criticism and the truth.
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7 Comments
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Christian Sciberras
Sep 30th 2009, 20:41
@mario gellel
1. You think I criticized your comment just for the fun of it? If you think I'm holding a grudge against you, spare it, I'm not.
2. You tell me! I've tried raising the media's attention (including Times of Malta) to no use. Before that, I've been trying to contact different governmental officials. The only reply I got was a notice about someone forwarding my message to the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).
This still doesn't change what I wrote. I'm very well aware of the term "bureaucracy", "political discrimination" and "technical incompetence" so no need to remind me.
3. It makes your comment annoying, visually unattractive and harder to read. What's the point of it anyway?
Kind regards,
Christian Sciberras.
P.Cassar
Sep 30th 2009, 13:34
So first we have the Auditor General, years ago, informing the PM that things are NOT as they should in the Vat dept................nothing happens
Now a common citizen also informs the PM about SERIOUS GOINGS ON and staus quo persists
These are those that came to light probaly many others exists.
mario gellel
Sep 30th 2009, 13:13
@C.Sciberras
FIRST, READ THE ARTICLE AND THEN JUDGE IF I WROTE A BASELESS COMMENT.
SECOND, IT WAS NOT THE PM ONLY WARNED, BUT HIS RIGHT ARM TOO,FINANCE MINISTER AND STILL THEY TOOK NO ACTION.
THIRD, IF MY CAP LOCK BOTHERS YOU, JUST SKIP MY COMMENT AND LET OTHERS READ IT.
Christian Sciberras
Sep 30th 2009, 12:22
@mario gellel - I would expect any other political party to do the same.
Do you think if the Prime Minister showed on their front desk something would have changed?
Oh right, asuming the was someone at the front desk.
Besides, why does all problems seem to somehow have to be routed to the Prime Minister?
It isn't like the Prime Minister is has single-handidly picked the employees is it?
First of, keep useless comment for yourself. Secondly, next time fix your keyboard, will you? Caps lock are quite annoying.
Regards,
Christian Sciberras.
mario gellel
Sep 30th 2009, 11:55
SO CAPT. MARIO GRECH INFORMED THE PM WHO PAST IT ON TO THE MINISTER IN CHARGE. AND WHAT HAPPENED?-NOTHING,NIL,ZERO.
A TRUE PICTURE OF HOW THE MALTESE PEOPLE ARE BEING TREATED UNDER THIS REGIM.
Joe Diacono
Sep 30th 2009, 10:33
Without going into the merits of who is right or wrong in this situation, Gozo Channel are offering a service. God forbid if we are to face any repercussions just because all the safety requirements were not adhered to.
We as stakeholders need to be reassured that the service being offered is safe and complies with all the maritime laws which control this type of service.
The authorities concerned need to ( independent of the judicial protest or not) conduct an independent enquiry into these allegations so as to put one’s mind at rest, whilst at the same time ensuring that the service provided, does meet up to the required standards.
Michael Neville Cassar
Sep 30th 2009, 10:24
Whether Malta is in the EU or not unless we have people like Capt M.Grech with honest and integrity we can never reach our goal. An inquiry target is to get to the root and truth of a matter to learn from mistakes of others and for the preservation of life. Crossings between Malta and Gozo is only 20 to 25 minutes but anything can go wrong and what has not happen in 20 years can happen in one minuet. Gozo depeneds very much on these ferries and the faster the inquiry is made the betther .Raprisenting the board of inquiry should be from both side of the Parlament with outside Master mariners and the IMO.