Let`s Pretend

The Malta Independent

Let`s Pretend

As June turned into July we had two glaring cases of let`s pretend which only a lethargic public and a dormant press would accept without as much as a bat of an eye-lid.

The Times of 1st July carried two stories on the front page.` The first told us that Drydocks was set to lose another Lm14 million this year which will be subscribed to as usual, along with some other Lm6 million of Malta Shipbuilding, by the public budget in a vote titled capital expenditure ` productive investment!

The other story told us that Freeport posted $5 million profit in 1999. An unwary reader would immediately think what a disaster our shipyards are and how successful our Freeport is! This is only 50% right.

That our shipyards are a financial disaster is a sadly accepted fact. What is unbelievable is that this state of affairs has been allowed to run for 19 years of subsidies without in anyway addressing the basic problem. Anyone who thinks that by so doing one has been doing any favours to Drydocks and its employees does not have any idea of what serious management is all about. Blame not the workers and the unions. Blame the management and the government who has been using our hard earned tax-money to avoid applying a real solution.

But pretending that Freeport made a profit of $5 million in 1999 is a borderline between farce and tragedy. Firstly this is incorrect even on the reported figures. The consolidated result was a loss of nearly $1 million not a profit of $5 million.` Secondly this consolidated loss was after taking in $21 million grants from government and without taking a charge of depreciation, rental or finance cost for Terminal One which is still owned by the government but operated by Freeport. So let there be no doubt. Freeport in the first year when it had two terminals in operation made a net loss $22 million plus whatever appropriate rental charge should `have been paid to government for using Terminal One. Unless the problems at Freeport are addressed there is another Drydocks in the making!

The let`s pretend game was further played in the Cottonera project.` Whilst the promoters are still running around trying to obtain equity finance support for this project it was officially green-lighted` by our pompous smiling Minister. And of all places the project started by breaking up some of the most architecturally and historically precious buildings in Cottonera.

Having been through the process of getting the Portomaso project through the mills of bureaucracy one wonders how things have changed in the short space of 5 years.

In the case of the Portomaso project the developer was rearing to go but was stalled by the authorities who wanted checks and re-checks on the availability of financial backing, environmental guarantees and detailed plans to be fully approved before even demolishing the then existing hotel structure.

In the case of Cottonera the promoters are nowhere near ready to go but are clearly being forced to start, whatever the consequences, as part of the let`s pretend game which government hopes will whip up the elusive feel good factor.

The let`s pretend game normally has a very short expiry in spite of the evident willingness of the press to extend this dangerous game beyond its reasonable limits.