23 - 29 December 1999

John Cassar White to be appointed chairman of both shipyards

by Franco Aloisio

The chairman of Malta Shipbuilding, John Cassar White, is to be appointed chairman of the Malta Drydocks after the boards of the two companies will be merged early next year, business sources said yesterday. The sources said that Mr Cassar White, a former chairman of MIMCOL, has accepted the government's offer. It is believed that other individuals were also earmarked for this post had Mr Cassar White turned down the offer.

Meanwhile, the present drydocks chairman, Prof. Noel Zarb Adami, will remain in his position until April. Prof. Zarb Adami's contract ends this month. Yesterday morning, prior to the signing of the agreement between the Malta Drydocks and the US Navy, the Minister for Economic Affairs, Josef Bonnici, informed Prof. Zarb Adami that his contract was being extended "until further notice."

However, Prof. Zarb Adami told The Malta Business Weekly that he will be leaving in the early months of 2000, after a series of major changes in the running of the Malta Drydocks are implemented. Meanwhile, Prof. Zarb Adami has been appointed chairman of the newly set up National Laboratory. Prof. Zarb Adami told The Malta Business Weekly in an interview that the new corporate structure of the Malta Drydocks will come into effect in the second week of January 2000, following an amendment to the Drydocks Act.

He said the merger of the drydocks and Malta Shipbuilding will bring about a rationalisation of the 'yards resources. Moreover the merged company will also be focusing on the Enterprises section with productive work being generated through the steel construction unit, the number one dock and the Manoel Island yacht repair facility. The ship repair and construction will remain the core business.

Prof. Zarb Adami said that the new collective agreement for the drydocks will be signed before the end of the year. Prof. Zarb Adami said that this year the 'yard will have lost Lm15m. During the interview, the drydocks chairman was somewhat critical of the General Workers' Union and the union drydocks section secretary Anthony Coleiro.