The GWU said that Cargo Handling Ltd is a transparent company that has always carried out its work to the letter and has always abided by the regulations and tariffs issued by government.

Answering questions from The Malta Independent, GWU secretary general Tony Zarb said that the government was trying to push Cargo Handling Ltd out of the picture. He said that, in addition, indications were that the government was going to issue an open tender without regulation of prices.

Bearing in mind that the GWU’s company abides by government regulations, Mr Zarb was asked whether it was possible that another company could offer a better service for less. In reply, Mr Zarb said: “How can we say? We don’t know. There are too many elements to the equation: fees with other parties including port workers, Customs, transfers and the like, must also be negotiated.” He continued: “It looks as if the government has simply decided to issue a call for tenders at all costs.”

He added that the company had made up to Lm400,000 profit in one year, but on other occasions had just broken even.

Mr Zarb said the company, which employs 130 people, had told government on many occasions that it was prepared to invest more in machinery. “We were ready, we wanted to invest to carry out both onboard work and on the ground work, but we have been rebuffed,” he said.

He said that in view of the tendering process, there was no guarantee whatsoever that another company could offer the services at a cheaper price.

Mr Zarb also gave a breakdown of the share of payment the company gets from handling cargo. He said there were allegations that Cargo Handling took up to 30 per cent of the money paid out for port services per 20-foot container.

“This is absolutely not the case at all. Cargo Handling gets a mere 12.19 per cent of the fee charged for a 20-foot container,” he said.

Mr Zarb said the biggest chunks of payment went to the agent who transfers the cargo from the dock area to site and the shipping agents, at 30.96 per cent and 22.29 per cent respectively.

Others payees included: Customs (11.53 per cent), port workers (7.97 per cent), cranage (4.43 per cent), sub-contractor (4.23 per cent), Malta Maritime Authority (3.87 per cent), processing of documents (1.93 per cent) and foremen (0.60 per cent).

Mr Zarb said this breakdown clearly showed that after taking away the shares of all other operators, Cargo Handling Ltd was left with 12.19 per cent of the total.

With 40-foot containers, Cargo Handling’s take-home share was even less, at 11.5 per cent.

Mr Zarb also refuted various allegations he said had been made by the MMA, including claims that Cargo Handling was not carrying out safety checks and tests on its equipment. He also replied to the allegation that Cargo Handling was not making any investment in its machinery. “We are doing that too,”he said.

He added that the MMA’s claims that Cargo Handling had become careless and had let things slip were absolutely unfounded. “We have been requesting meetings with the MMA since 2002,” he said.

Mr Zarb said that Cargo Handling had paid a total of Lm10 million to the MMA for use of machinery that was supposed to be the authority’s responsibility anyway.

“We have also paid Lm750,000

in compensation to the Malta Freeport for local cargo handling operations,” he said, adding that the company had never received money for the supposed tariff adjustments for cost of living. “Over the past 10 years we have not received anything when the compensation should have been a total of Lm565,955,” he said.

He also stuck to his guns, saying that the company always adhered to the tariff regulated by the government, including the fees of sub-

contractors. “It is not the company that set any tariff, it was always the government. It is they who issue the prices, not us, and we have to abide by what they instruct us to do,” said Mr Zarb.

He also made a point of mentioning the fact that the sub-contractor in question had worked at the port since before the GWU took over the company in the 1970s. “And he is only paid what the government allows us to pay him,” he said.

The GWU man said: “We will also tell the government one thing; if they are calling us a monopoly, they will effectively be replacing us with another monopoly. We are regulated, but this next company will not be,” he said.

He also mentioned that the company had proposed that cargo arriving at the Freeport be stored there and that Cargo Handling Ltd would move it. “There have been numerous complaints claiming that cargo sits idle for ages and takes ages to reach its final destination,” he said.

He concluded: “The union is not against reform, but reform must be reached by discussing things properly around the table.”