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The Shipyard, these last few days, refused and did not even consider two demands for the building of ships in Malta, and this because of the agreement with Malta that the European Union imposed that “the building of ships shall not exceed the maximum annual production of 10,000 compensated gross tons”.

This was revealed by Dr Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici while he was addressing a press conference of the Campaign for National independence (CNI) during which he explained the deceit of the Nationalist Government in what it had negotiated with the EU with respect to the Malta Shipyards.

The CNI Chairman condemned the Maltese Government for distributing “deceitful” information to the Maltese people about the Shipyard, and condemned the EU for closing its eyes when it knew about this deceitful information.

Dr. Mifsud Bonnici also revealed how the Prime Minister on 6 October 2001 had called entrusted Task Force to make a restructuring programme when such a report had already been sent to the EU. 

He continued to insist that since 1 October 2001, the EU had already given its first reactions for the Shipyard restructuring programme. 

The Task Force was entrusted to make a plan on 6 October 2001 and had it ready on 11 October of the same year. 

The CNI Chairman insisted that this is proof of how the Government had deceived even the Task Force because he commissioned it to make a report that had already been sent to the EU.

During the press conference Dr Mifsud Bonnici explained how the ship building sector is going to end because according to Malta’s agreement with the EU, the number of man-hours that can be utilized for ship building that are available for the productive work force is only 365,000 man-hours. 

This only leaves a chance for the shipbuilding to only build the ship skeletons, said the CNI’s Chairman.

He explained that this amount is derived from the agreement that the EU imposed on Malta where the number of man-hours available for the productive work force planned for ship building, ship repair and ship conversion shall not be greater than 2.4 million man-hours per year.

The following point in the agreement about the Shipyard states that the man-hours sold for ship repair and ship conversion shall not exceed 2,035,000 man-hours.

During the press conference Dr Mifsud Bonnici also revealed how according to the agreement, Dock Number One of the Malta Drydocks shall be closed for ship building, ship repair and ship conversion for at least 10 years from the date of the beginning of the restructuring period.

The agreement states that: 

“if the closed dock will again be used for other activities, these shall be independent from the companies who are the present proprietors of the shipyards, and shall have no connection with ship building, ship repair or ship conversion”.

This, said Dr Mifsud Bonnici, is nothing less than a grant by the Maltese Government, so that to satisfy the imposition of the EU, had to reduce the physical productive capacity of the Shipyard and thus reduce one of the seven docks to six the number of docks.

These limitations imposed upon the Shipyard, said the CNI Chairman, are only because in the other EU shipyard there exists excessive capacity. 

He insisted that these excessive limitations are greatly damaging to Malta in view that the country wants to attract more work towards Malta from outside the country, and employ the workers that presently exist at the Shipyard in a productive manner and increase foreign currency income.

The CNI statement says that: 

“however, for the EU Malta’s fundamental necessities are not important as much as the Union’s free market rules and free competition policy”.

Dr Misud Bonnici said that all these measures are inherently objectionable, but it is more condemnable that the Government did not inform the people about all this. 

Apart from this he also condemned the EU for having been an accomplice with the Government in hiding this information.

The Task Force Restructuring Plan states that during the seven years of restructuring the Shipyard turnover is estimated to reach Lm26.47 million, while the Re-Organization Plan for the Shipyard of a few months before, July 2001, it is estimated that the same turnover will reach more than Lm35 million, a discrepancy of Lm8.5 million from one report to the other.

When asked what does he think the way forward should be for the Shipyard to exit from its big problems, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said that the Appledore Shipyard restructuring plan, prepared by the Labour Party during the time of the Labour Administration between 1996 and 1998 was the best solution. 

He said that the Appledore report had stated that the Shipyard workforce should be split into three units, that is, ship repair, shipyard enterprises and a number of supplemental workers who give services to the other two units.

This report had even found the consent of the unions so much so that they had cooperated. 

But the Nationalist Party, when it was elected in government in 1998 had stopped the plan to start anew according to what had been imposed upon it by the European Union.

Tuesday 26 August 2003

e-mail: cnimalta at yahoo.co.uk 

WE WANT INDEPENDENCE FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION

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