Dockyard should have been privatised a long time ago - Gatt
Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt said today that the dockyard had been a historic and political failure for the country which had cost taxpayers €980,693,257 in 40 years. In his view, he said, privatisation should have been taken in hand years ago.
Speaking in parliament during the debate on a motion to transfer the ship repair facilities to Palumbo spa, Dr Gatt said the dockyard had cost the country of €70,000 per day for the past 40 years.
The dockyard losses were a constant as governments, prime ministers, ministers,directors and workers changed. The losses continued even as various management systems were adopted.
"We cannot deny the fact that the dockyard has been a historic failure for the country. It has also been a political failure, with the enterprise having been kept open despite the mounting losses over many years," Dr Gatt said.
In this context, the decision to privatise the 'yard should have been taken a long time ago.
Another constant, Dr Gatt said, was that in the past 40 years the dockyard was always government-owned, and the tendency was that problems such as this were found in governemnt enterprises.
It was also evident that this problem was not tackled before because the dockyard was never allowed to function on commercial lines. Among the reasons were the political militancy of the General Workers' Union. One only needed to speak to the directors and managers on the behaviour of the union after 2003 when many reforms were meant to be brought in. As efforts were made to implement the Appledore report which everybody said he agreed with, there was a whole series of unofficial strikes and other actions. This showed how wrong political trade-unionism was, Dr Gatt said.
Just as wrong was how some Opposition politicians continued to regard the dockyard workers as their 'red army' an attitude which continued to make management difficult.
Another problem was that managers and workers were in the same union, making the enforcement of discipline by the management difficult.
"The lesson from the dockyard is that while trade union rights are important and should be respected, when trade unionism becomes political and political purposes take priority over trade union purposes, things go wrong," Dr Gatt said. The attitude of the GWU in the dockyard was far different from how the GWU acted in the private sector, Dr Gatt said.
While this was not the only reason for the demise of the dockyard, it was certainly a very major contributing cause.
Dr Gatt said the Fairmount ship conversion contract which was being blamed for the closure of the dockyard had cost the 'yard €32 million. Over the same period the dockyard lost over €100 million. Under the Sant government, it lost €135 million.
Privatisation, he said, had been on the cards ever since Malta joined the EU. The EU had allowed state aid to the shipyard up to 2008 and it was evident that by that year the shipyard either became profitable, or it would have to close. Before the last election the prime minister had been clear that the 'yard was heading towards privatisation because profitability had not been achieved.
In 2008 after the elections, the government was faced with a situation that it could not give further state aid to the dockyard, nor could it issue financial guarantees. Meanwhile, the losses were continuing to mount. The choice was a simple one - closure and possibly conversion into a waterfront and hotel facilities or retention of the dockyard, but in private hands.
A well run dockyard was clearly an asset for the country, and the government had therefore opted for privatisation.
It was evident, Dr Gatt said, that the Maltese wanted to work in a well-run dockyard. A small recruitment advert published in the inside pages of a newspaper recently attracted hundreds of applications.
This, Dr Gatt said, was the inevitable conclusion of a story which had been smeared by politics and had led to a financial failure which accounted for a quarter of the national debt, Dr Gatt said.
Labour MP Chris Agius said the dockyard workers had worked diligently and completed contracts on time and the root of the dockyard's ills were government appointments to the management of the enterprise. He said the dockyard workers were promised that the dockyard would remain open, but the opposite had happened.
He pointed out that while Dr Gatt had said that the dockyard had not made a profit since 1982, the PN was in government for most of the years since, and the ultimate responsibility was political.
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Mr Lawrence Fenech
Jul 19th 2011, 16:01
Iva mr 38% bhal ma ghamiltu bil-parliament sar taghkhom (ghal issa).
john a. ebejer
May 19th 2010, 16:01
I am an architect who in recent weeks expressed my views in the Times and on timesonline.com on the City Gate project and on other topics.
I refer to the comments below sent in by John Ebejer. These comments were not submitted by the undersigned.
john a. ebejer
C.camilleri
May 18th 2010, 20:38
What took you so long to decide? Your party have been in power for more than 23 years. What baffles me is, that since the PN always had in mind the closure of the drydocks , then may I ask why before the last election the Prime Minister felt the need to send a personal letter to the remaining drydocks workers promising them more work more profits and paying less taxes?
What happened after the election is a totally different story. The letter and the written promises when thrown in the bin and the workers were thrown out on the streets, in a nutshell they were taken for a ride.
lgalea
May 18th 2010, 18:07
The hatred against the Dockyard workers was also shown and confirmed today in Parliament when Dr Jason Azzopardi said that even if the Dockyard was profitable the Government would still have privatized it. This clearly shows without any shadow of doubt how treacherous and deceitful is the Prime Minister when he assured the Dockyard workers before the general elections that their jobs were secure. There is only one word to describe these people. HYPOCRITES.
Andrew B. Gatt
May 18th 2010, 17:36
Dr Austin Gatt : 100 % right. Dockyard should have been privatised already by the 10 th May 1987 as soon as we got the greatest news Malta had beeen waiting for !
George Cremona
May 18th 2010, 15:53
Some are asking when did the Drydocks made the largest losses? May I put a second question to compliment the first? When were the drydocks workers used many a times by a political party to demonstrate against private schools, against the stand of the church in favour of its schools and against Courts' rulings which did not please the government of those times? Was it profitable for the drydocks to have its workers taken out of their workplace just to rampage the Courts and the Curia and for so doing the same workers were labelled with pomposity as 'the red army' by the then Prime Minister Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici?
Hon. Evarist Bartolo has the right answer for the above questions. He spelt it out so clearly in Parliament during the debate on the privatization of the Drydocks.
J Micallef
May 18th 2010, 14:54
Malta was never lucky to have a Thatcher as its prime minister. She had the guts to cut the crap out of the militant trade unions.
J Martinelli
May 18th 2010, 14:39
@ Alfred Grima
The Freeport runs with a profit. It expanded its facilities and equipment several times. It attracted world renowned container carriers. Above all, it's not State owned.
The Dockyard/shipyard remained a constant burden on the taxpayer and it befuddles me to read that Chris Agius thinks that Nationalist governments since 1987 should have found a political solution! Indeed this government has, while the Socialist government between 1982 and 1987 and again between 1996 and 1998 did absolutely nothing except adopt the GWU as its preferred Union and fed the money losing shipyard more money to pay for salaries which produced scant little in return. Moreover, it's puzzling how on one hand Chris Agius seeks a political solution while his same Party is fundamentally opposed to the privatization of State owned enterprizes.
As usual the LP wants to have it both ways while it's against everything, always and distances itself from its past failures and instead of admitting its miscalculations, it continues to have no regrets, in hindsight or not.
The present solution should be regarded as a new page in the history of the shipyards and any jobs created are a boost to the economy.
P.Cassar
May 18th 2010, 14:00
DEAR MINISTER
THUS TALK MEN WHO FAILED SOLUTIONS. PROF. SERRACINO INGLOTT TALKS OTHERWISE AND YOU KNOW IT.
J.galea
May 18th 2010, 13:32
Dear Augustino piu
With this speech I think that all you are trying to do is divert the discussion away from the Fairmount contract which reddens your face every time you hear about it. Hope that this redness in your face is due to anger for the incompetence of the directors that you appointed and not of shyness.
Evarist Saliba
May 18th 2010, 13:28
One obvious and basic factor in the demise of the Malta shipyard/drydocks is that for centuries they were run as a state enterprise for defence purposes, where profit was not an important consideration. Once the United Kingdom decided that they were no longer required for defence purposes, and Malta could not consider them assuch, profit became an essential element in the viable running of the enterrprise.
For a number of reasons for which governments, administrations, trade unions and workers must take their share of responsibility, this reality was not adequately faced.
Let's hope that all former workers are now employed, and leave the matter in the hands of economic/industrial/political historians, and turn over a new page.
Alfred Grima
May 18th 2010, 12:40
So Minister Gatt, are you going to close down the Freeport as well? I bet you don't; as I believe, that if you did you will suffer a big setback in the coming election .
lgalea
May 18th 2010, 12:03
It would have been better if Parliament was privatized instead of awarding yourselves LM125 SALARY INCREASE PER WEEK Agostino Pio.
A. Zahra
May 18th 2010, 12:40
Have you not realised that Parliament is privitised and that you are a shareholder in it. Have you not realised that you vote for the directors every five years. More substance please lgalea and cheer up it's a bright day thanks even to Agostino Pio!
Joseph Cassar
May 18th 2010, 12:02
Excellent speech by Dr Gatt. These are the facts. The people have voted for these changes. With the MLP in governement this country will have no future and the citizens will continue to pay for failing policies. Dr Gonzi is bringing about changes every year to the benefit of all and this is why we will once again vote for the PN in the next election.
carmel caruana
May 18th 2010, 11:54
Let nobody get too hot under the collar. The heat you feel is frustration. Parliament is dead in the water as an institution, a talking shop. This column is far more efficient as an opinion -exchange agency, but equally ineficacious. When those guys vote, they won't know what the heck they're voting for, except in vague, general terms -of course they can't tell an 'aye' for a 'nay'!
j camilleri
May 18th 2010, 11:41
Apart from the fact that the pre-general elections' talk was diametrically opposite what is being said today, Dr Gatt fails to mention that under the Sant government (as he calls it), there was a real attempt at reforming MMD. The losses incurred during the 22 months in question are irrelevant in so far as the operation was, during this period, on the same loss making business model. What is of relevance, and failed to be mentioned by Minister Gatt, is that this period was characterised by a real plan of reform and restructuring, diversification onto different engineering jobs (like solar and photo voltaic panels), with a view of turning the fortunes of the enterprise. This would surely have caused some pain too, possibly some job losses, retraining and the adoption of a different mind set.
References to "red armies" surely cannot be attributed to the Sant years.
In my view, Dr Gatt's comments are just political tosh.
K Vella
May 18th 2010, 13:48
965,000,000 euros are not tosh. They are from our work and from our pockets. To adevolate labour and the GWU. Never again.
Joseph E Briffa
May 18th 2010, 11:31
Thank goodness finally Malta found a government that could take the bull by the horns and end this festering sore. Eur1 billion euros were practically thrown down the drain. Just imagine what we could have done with this money had it been put to good use. We should be thankful to Austin Gatt for relieving us of this festering sore. It's not the fault of the dockyard workers. The culprit was the GWU that politicised the drydocks because it always believed that they were the power base of the Labour party and were adamant to change their irresponsible attitude and in so doing brought the dockyard on its knees.
lgalea
May 18th 2010, 12:06
Joseph E Briffa its not the GWU that brought the Dockyard to its knees, but the incompetent PN Government and the equally incompetent management appointed by the PN to purposely bankrupt the Dockyard through the Fairmount contract. But the neither the Dockyard workers and their families nor God shall EEVER forget and forgive the incompetent deceitful and treacherous PN and the equally treacherous and deceitful eu because they both wanted to destroy our Dockyard for their own purposes.
John Ebejer
May 18th 2010, 19:39
At Igalea: So, if it was not the GWU but the PN government that brought the dockyard to its knees, why, then, please can you tell me, have previous governments, including Labour ones, continually threw money down the drain by giving money to the dockyard to keep it afloat, somehow? Come on. Answers, please. Tat-Tarzna tal ghalbiex kienu tajjeb? Biex johoru fit-toroq ikissru u jfarrku. Ghidli kont tara xi haddiema ohra jaghmlu hekk? U hallina ... mur, mur cicci bil-qieghda.
carmel caruana
May 18th 2010, 11:25
As I write, the dockyard debate is a.m., ongoing. Very few people are present in parliament. What are the speakers speaking for? Who are they speaking for? Parliament is a waste of time. When voting time comes, MPs will just reflect entrenched positions, and all the speeches meant to convince, one way or the other, will count as naught. Nobody votes for common sense or the truth, or even Malta, but for the party. The Parliament-tagging section of the population knows more about particular situations than the MPs who vote because they are not there. I am being political, not partisan. I'd like feedback.
Gerard Cassar
May 18th 2010, 11:24
A balanced article with a faulty scale in favour of the government and the Times of Malta opinion regarding the GWU and the workers.
ASpiteri
May 18th 2010, 11:15
not only the dockyard...but privatize also Air Malta, PBS and any other government owned businesses!
We must understand once and for all what the role of Government ought to be and that definitely doesn’t include running business corporations, which will only result in rampant corruption, bureaucracy and mismanagement due to lack of accountability!
Dr Gatt is also perfectly right on his assessment on Trade unionism. When the Union becomes nothing more than a political tool, exactly what the GWU became at the dockyard, everyone loses, and that includes the same workers!
Such insanity meant nearly 1 billion euro down the drain...try to imagine if the government was in a position of not taking away all that money from hard-working people and entrepreneurs through taxes!
lgalea
May 18th 2010, 12:08
ASpiteri other countries are re-nationalizing what they had privatized before and you want us to privatize everything? How about privatizing the incompetent PN government for a change?
J.Borg
May 18th 2010, 11:15
Minister Gatt said: ".......had cost taxpayers €980,693,257 in 40 years"
Can the minister give us a rundound of the losses incurred by the dockyard on a yearly basis. So that one can see when the dockyard made these losses?
Also he said: ".........Under the Sant government, it lost €135 million"
It's easy putting the blame on others. What were the losses in these 22 years of PN adminsitration?
J Farrugia
May 18th 2010, 11:13
Yes Hon Chris Agius, the problem WAS political, just tell it to Wistin Abela, to Lorry Sant, to the Labour Party, since according to KMB, the Dockyards was the MLP's fifth army, tell it to the GWU since it was the backbone of its existance. Tell it to Those who administered the MDD, and who gave overtime to their stalwarts only, go and see their residences. They are living like kings, while the sick is waiting for a precious injection which is not affordable to him. Yes the Dockyards was a political problem in favour of the labour party and the GWU. And no one can argue against the sound arguments of Dr Austin Gatt. He knows what he is saying. These alarming figures are on his desk readily available to those who try to counter them.
Jesmond mallia
May 18th 2010, 11:08
Ghandek ragun Sur Gatt u naqblu mija fil mija..........il problema hi li il PN ilhom fil gvern ghal dawn l ahhar 23 sena.........................li jfisser li int kont parti li ma hadtx id decizjoni t tajba...............ACCOUNTABILITY ACCOUNTABILITY ACCOUNTABILITY.
J Farrugia
May 18th 2010, 12:17
Sur Mallia halli nfakkrek ftit dwar il-militanza tal-GWU u l-marci u l-protesti li saru mill-haddiema tad-dockyard ikissru u jfarrku ghax il-Gvern tal-PN ma tahomx dak li riedu. Ha nfakkrek meta ghal darba darbtejn il-GWU ipparalizzat Malta bl-azzjonijiet irresponsabbli taghha favur it-talbiet ingusti tal-haddiema laburisti tat-tarzna taht it-tmexxija ta' Sammy Meilaq li meta tela l-labnour kien qal li dak konnha qed nghadduh biz-zmien (ghal John Dalli). u l-miljuni li l-PN fil-gvern ta lit-tarzna biex forsi FORSI tqum fuq saqajha. Ma dawn it-tip ta' nies kellu jhabbbat wiccu maghhom il-PN fil-Gvern. Illum l-istorja inbidlet il-haddiema tat-tarzna gew likwidati u issa l-mument li l-par idejn sodi jtertqu t-tarzna kollha kemm hi. U l-poplu Malti jibqa jrodd hajr lill-Gvern tal-PN li kien kapaci li jfarrak monstru mwieled mil-Labour u li sewa lill-pajjizna biljuni ta' ewro. Fl-ahhar hlisna minn dan il-mostru msejjah it-tarzna ta' Malta jew il-5th Army tal-Labour party u tal-GWU.
J Abela
May 18th 2010, 12:21
Ezatt.
Il-Falliment politiku jappartjeni biss lill-dawk li qatt ma hadu d-decizjoni qabel meta ilhom fil-gvern pratikament mill-1987 (u minghajr interruzzjoni mill-1998).
Kien dak l-istagnar u falliment politiku li wassal ghall-falliment ekonomiku.
Ejja, fl-ahhar qed nammettu, Dr. Gatt (jew forsi parlajt xi naqra zzejjed, Dottore...)
oliver calleja
May 18th 2010, 11:07
@ Klaus Pederson
Unfortunately the sick patient was killed when he had recuperated and was making a full recovery. Also it's typical of Gatt to state that the dockyard had cost the taxpayers €980,693,257 in 40 years without mentioning that on average 2000 workers made a living earning approx €12,000 each year for all those 40 years. If the dockyard was not economically feasible blame it on successive governments ministers and the dockyard management for persistently taking wrong decisions and not being able to harness the wealth of skills and talent that existed there..
A. Zahra
May 18th 2010, 12:30
Yes, blame it on everybody: the MLP, the PN, shipowners, chairmen, directors and not forgetting the cats and the dogs which roamed the drydocks at will. Never ever mention the chairman and directors who conducted a cold war against the PN govermnent, never mention the GWU which used to effectively run the drydocks. Never mention the MLP which considered the drydocks workers as its 8th Army. Yes all those did nothing to turn the drydocks into a chronic loss making enterprise.
John Micallef
May 18th 2010, 11:01
Well said Joanna, you are 200% right. Its a shame that a political party did this to win the election. Do they realised they said a lie t over 1500 families in that time??
Klaus i cannot understand how you managed to congratulate someone that did something very late! Good political & Chairmans (with reference to Mr Gingell) takes the right decissions in the right time, not after years they come over saying we have taken the wrong decissions!!
I cannot beleive mr Gatt is so rude to say this to the families involved.
conrad vella
May 18th 2010, 11:42
Dear Mr. Micallef...............nahseb kollha vvutaw il pn fl-ahhar elezzjoni jew fl-elezzjonijiet ta qabel...........hallina tridx!!!!
John Ebejer
May 18th 2010, 10:54
I absolutely have no love for Austin Gatt and the way he works at times, but he is right on this one. He couldn't have put it better. And the way Evarist Bartolo expressed himself some days ago over the issue, gives credence to what Gatt is saying here. The dockyard has always been the lackey of the MLP/GWU and because of this, it did not do well. Quite the contrary. No. Nobody is saying that the workers within it were not very skilled. What one is saying is that as a company it should have never been imbroiled in partisan politics. Don't you all remember the pro-Socialist/Mintoff/MLP slogan board hanging on top of the Cottonera mina as you go in? I think that that slogan was its deathknell, for many, many years. So, yes, it's good riddance to the Dockyard.
Klaus Pedersen
May 18th 2010, 10:51
Dr. Gatt's statements are undeniable. The country owes a debt of gratitude to a politician who finally took the bull by the horns and stopped this haemorrage of funds which, lest we forget, could have been used for areas such as health or education.
D. Falzon
May 18th 2010, 10:59
Who has governed Malta for the past 20 years?
How much Enemalta and Water Services have costed the taxpayer through debts and subsidies?
Why the dockyard and not Enemalta and WSC?
The Lottories department maybe was the only goverment department which was making profit why was it privatised with the first units
needs some answers
mario gellel
May 18th 2010, 11:05
The only difference is the so called money saved are not going for health and Education, but in some people's pockets after some crazy and worthless project is invented and always costs more than double originated.
lgalea
May 18th 2010, 12:01
Klaus Pedersen How about the vast amounts squandered on every project under PN administrations? For it is squandering of funds when every single project costs many times the original estimate. How about the corruption that PN Governments have always been associated with? How about the €182,192 EVERY DAY that we are sending to the eu apart from all customs duties and levies while we pay the customs officers to collect them, ġpart of VAT and other payments and losses we have suffered with eu membership? This is apart from the solemn promises given to the Shipyard workers and their families by the treacherous and deceitful PN Government prior to the general election. Perhaps foreigners should look at what happens in their own countries before criticizing Maltese workers and the PL.
joanna farrugia
May 18th 2010, 10:43
sure mr gatt but before the election you and your party used another different tune