The Freeport was replying to an article ‘Secret contract’ at Freeport said to double expenses for Maltese, which appeared in The Malta Independent on Sunday on 15 August.

That article was basically a compilation of letters sent to the Freeport and other authorities by a group of workers, known as shore foremen, at least since 27 January, for which they had never received a full answer.

In its reply, sent on an unsigned fax to the wrong fax number on Friday afternoon, the Freeport stated that “the contract provides for a fixed monthly fee which relates to the supervision of port workers carrying out duties associated with transhipment containers.”

The Freeport statement explained that the tariff charged in terms of the Port Workers Ordinance on local cargo is paid by importers/receivers to the Cargo Handling Company Limited and the vessel’s agent. The fee paid to the shore foremen is paid in terms of the tariff, despite the fact that the shore foremen are not present at the Freeport.

“This situation,” the Freeport continued, “has existed from the outset of the Freeport operation, out of which only five per cent of the volume handled relates to domestic cargo.

It has therefore always been impractical for the shore foremen to carry out their duties in a terminal which is transhipment oriented.

“The fee paid for terminal foreman services is not related to the volume of work and no part of this fee is charged, directly or indirectly, to receivers of domestic cargo.” Thus it is not ‘the Maltese’ who pay double for the duties for whatever they import’ as the shore foremen alleged.

The Freeport also denied that any recruitment had taken place at a time when the government was committed that no recruitment could be made. The last recruitment at the Freeport took place in mid-2003.

Finally the Freeport also denied the shore foremen’s allegation that Freeport staff have been told to take orders from Mr Spiteri regarding port workers. The foreman’s role, the Freeport said, is specifically regulated in the agreement between the Freeport and the port workers and the GWU as the only between the company and the workers for any port worker-related maters.

Meanwhile, speaking to this newspaper yesterday, GWU secretary general Tony Zarb said discussions between the union and the Freeport are continuing. Another meting was held on Thursday and another meeting will be held after next week. Discussions are still at the level of the union section.