The trade union representing professional officers at Enemalta has called on the government to publish the full report of a 2004 investigation which deemed as unfounded allegations that a number of gas cylinders were defective.

The call was made on the strength of a motion approved at the annual general meeting which the Enemalta Public Officers Union has just held.

The union did not explain why it wants the report to be published in toto.

It recalled that in September 2004, the Ministry for IT and Investment declared publicly that a number of gas cylinders were defective.

Enemalta embarked on a gradual withdrawal of cylinders from households, saying that initial tests had suggested that some of the cylinders in circulation, although not unsafe, were not up to EU standards and did not meet the criteria set down in the contract signed with the supplier.

Three engineers who had formed part of the selection board that had opted for the cylinders in question had been suspended and accused of gross negligence.

Enemalta had also initiated internal disciplinary procedures against the three engineers on grounds that there were enough facts for them to be charged with gross negligence in their evaluation of the tenders and, in the case of one of them, also in the acceptance of the cylinders.

However, further tests on the cylinders in question revealed that they were up to standard and that nothing was wrong with them.

Subsequently, Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt last year apologised to the three engineers in Parliament, but the union said that its calls for the engineers to be duly compensated for the episode were ignored.

The union said the inquiry report confirmed that what the ministry had said about the three engineers was incorrect. The report further confirmed that the three individuals had suffered hardships unnecessarily.

However, the report was neither published nor laid on the table of the House of Representatives, the union noted.

At the annual general meeting, the union members also approved a motion condemning Enemalta for employing managers from outside the corporation without first issuing an internal call for applications.

The ministry was asked for its reaction but questions sent yesterday remained unanswered at the time of writing.