Government saving €40 million in subsidies

Parliamentary Secretary Jason Azzopardi told Parliament yesterday that the government believed in the privatisation of the dockyard because apart from the fact that this offered a sterling opportunity for the yard itself, it also would be saving the government 40 millions of euros in subsidies which could be used elsewhere.

The dockyard had been losing money for the last 40 years with one billion euro in subsidies. It only made a profit in nine years among them in 1982 and 1983. The dockyard was being given a new lease of life.

Earlier, Dr Azzopardi said he also came from a dockyard worker's family and his father was also injured at the dockyard. He was proud of his father, who served as an electrical fitter, and held dockyard workers in great esteem.

This did not mean that there were not bad work practices in the dockyard and a union that had used workers against the government as in the La Salle contract. The union had ordered a work-to-rule on the eve of important negotiations. Some dockyard workers made a grave mistake when they had attacked the curia and the courts.

He said the Leader of the Opposition had put a serious question to the Prime Minister when the latter was abroad. This was cheap propaganda. If Dr Muscat knew of any information he should call on the police to investigate.

The Palumbo contract stipulated that it was limited to maritime services and other functions if given authorisation. He said that the company was leasing the land for 30 years adding that no one in his right senses would speculate on land which he knew he would lose after 30 years.

Palumbo had to pay a €5 million guarantee.

This was a good deal with Palumbo investing €30 million in training and machinery, €26 million of which had to be invested in the first four years.

Hundreds of workers were interested in seeking a job at the Dockyard.

Robert Arrigo (PN) said this was a new beginning for the dockyard, the problems of which had a long history behind them. Those employees who wanted to work found employment and some even managed to become self-employed.

Despite effective dockyard production and employees, the accumulated debt was of one billion euros.

How did the government manage to keep this debt throughout all this time? he asked. The government was too kind with workers. Social conscience overwhelmed the monetary problem and the priority became the safeguarding - feasible socially but a nonsensical choice from a commerce point of view.

The dockyard closure meant its reopening under a new structure. The last two years saw a change in the global scenario. It was also not easy to attract foreign investors and the future was unknown. It was crucial to stop this never ending story of losses as it was the tax- payer who was forking out the millions of euros.

It was legitimate that Maltese people ask questions about subsidies given to workers. Could not this money be used to lower utility bills? In the future, preference should be given to capable applicants who were previously employed with the dockyards and were now unemployed.

He deplored the fact that the average production time of dockyard workers was of two hours and 25 minutes daily, despite they were paid for the whole eight hours. Caution was called for as the private sector was less patient than the government.

Maltese workers had the duty to take care of Malta's foreign investors. Malta could not afford to send the wrong message to investors such as Palumbo, a company with ample experience in ship repair.

The company's platform of workers was supplemented with contract and part-time workers and the client base provided a wave of new potential clients, such as Italian companies Grimaldi and MSC. Neapolitan company MSC had a high chance of expanding and becoming successful in Malta.

A large number of workers were already applying for jobs and the yard. He was positive that the number of employees would increase.

Concluding, Mr Arrigo expressed optimism and augured that this investment would not be the last. Further investment should be encouraged so that Malta could benefit from the value of the ripple effect of this contract.