The government will be able to sell the BWSC power station. Photo: Jason Borg

Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi yesterday assured Enemalta employees that they would be retaining all their rights, seniority, grades and collective agreements when they are transferred to a new company called Engineering Resources Ltd.

Introducing the debate in second reading of the Enemalta Bill, which provides for the transfer of all the assets, rights, liabilities and obligations of the corporation, Dr Mizzi said some workers would be seconded to other divisions according to the company’s needs but this would take place in full agreement, and with the co-operation of, the respective unions with whom talks were taking place.

He said that the government was basing this development on five principles, namely that jobs would be guaranteed, that conditions and salaries would be honoured, that opportunities abroad would not be obligatory but offered through a call for applications, that placements would be made by means of secondment and that there would not be any discrimination when it came to the creation of new jobs.

It was the government’s obligation to make Enemalta viable so that it would no longer be a burden on the country. Through this Bill, Enemalta would go from being a corporation to a limited liability company, Enemalta plc.

All the corporation’s assets and debts as well as pending court cases would be transferred to the acquiring company.

He made it clear that no foreign company was involved. He said that Moody’s, Fitch, Standard and Poor and EDF had all praised what the Maltese government was doing as it was transforming a corporation on the brink of bankruptcy into a company with a strong internal audit and financially sound structures.

The Labour government, he said, had found the corporation to be in a disastrous state. He described the oil scandal as the biggest scandal the country had ever seen. The PAC was still discussing it and the racket revealed in the procurement of fuel had stunned the country.

The new government had also found unissued consumption bills, smart meters that did not function, uncollected debts, lack of future planning for energy generation and project management in disarray.

The petroleum division had been left in paralysis for six years and tankers were left abandoned in Birżebbuġa. The situation at Enemalta had hit Malta’s credit rating, the economy, the banks and had created uncertainty among employees.

Through this Bill, he said, any sums owed as well as stocks and shares would be transferred to the new company and the government would no longer have any residual obligations or debts.

Several provisions would be retained to safeguard the rights of the country according to Maltese and EU legislation.

Dr Mizzi chided the Opposition for scaremongering and instilling fear in the consumers and the employees and assured the public that the most important assets – human resources – were safeguarded.