8 - 14 June 2000

FOI welcomes proposed changes in port workers' system

by Franco Aloisio

The Federation of Industry said it welcomed the changes being proposed in the port workers' system and regarded them as a means of improving efficiency and reducing transportation costs for companies.

In last week's issue of The Malta Independent on Sunday it was reported that a British consultancy firm, Hyder plc, has presented a report to the government on how to overhaul and restructure the port workers' system.

The current system allows a closed shop among workers at Malta's ports, especially Grand Harbour. The report makes a number of recommendations concerning the modernisation of port operations, the archaic port workers' employment scheme which allows the inheritance of licenses, and tariff simplification.

The local business community has long been very frustrated with the port workers' system. Federation of Industry president Joseph Zammit Tabona told The Malta Business Weekly that such changes are welcomed.

"It is about time that it happens. The handling of cargo at the ports is another government-induced cost. Many a time, the cost of transporting goods from Grand Harbour to a factory was higher than the transhipment from the UK, for instance, to Malta," Mr Zammit Tabona said. He added that these changes will not be easy, especially because of the mentality of the workers concerned. However, the changes have to take place in order for businesses to be more competitive. The president of the FOI said he expected port tariff costs to go down, and a marked increase in efficiency of cargo handling. Hyder plc was commissioned to carry out this report during the Labour administration. The British firm surveyed the facilities available in Grand Harbour and compared them with those available abroad. While in Malta, Hyder plc held consultation meetings with trade unions to discuss the future of port workers.

The report of Hyder plc states also that the Malta Maritime Authority should hive off more of its commercial operations. It recommends that the Maritime Authority retains its hinterland and lease out its commercial interests.

The report also comments on the lack of space in Grand Harbour and states that expansion of certain operations is very difficult, especially when one considers that a Lm10 million cruise liner passenger terminal is planned in the area.

This lack of space has also negatively affected the car carriers business. Whereas between 1995 and 1998, this business grew by 300 per cent to 10,000 cars a year, last year this figure dropped to 500 cars as there was not enough space in Grand Harbour to handle the ever increasing demand for cars.