The government has been deceiving fisherman over the years, the National Fishing Cooperative claimed yesterday.

The cooperative said the government had failed to honour its commitments with Maltese fishermen.

Addressing a press conference yesterday, cooperative secretary Raymond Bugeja said the government had not kept its promise of a new subsidised insurance scheme, on tuna quotas, on duty-free fuel and on the upgrading of the wholesale fish market (Pixkerija).

The cooperative claimed the government had also failed to foot the bill for the fleet modernisation programme.

With regard to the insurance scheme, Mr Bugeja said that in a letter dated 5 February 2003, the government pledged to substitute the scheme which existed at the time of refunding half of the national insurance contribution with a subsidised insurance policy for fishermen and their vessels. He said the majority of fishermen cannot afford the exorbitant insurance premiums, and therefore do not have an insurance policy.

He complained that even though Malta had joined the European Union, it still did not have a fixed tuna catch quota and that Malta’s 344 -tonne allocation has not been added to the EU’s total quota.

Maltese fishermen, Mr Bugeja said, were concerned about their future when tuna quotas might be reduced by 10 to 15 per cent during this month’s International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) meeting in Croatia.

The cooperative secretary also accused the government of delaying payments to fishermen who have agreed to upgrade their vessels. Mr Bugeja said fishermen had agreed to finance work on their boats through bank loans, which would then be paid for by the government. He said a number of fishermen are having to pay interest because the government has still not paid for the modifications.

Making reference to the scheme that gives fishermen duty-free fuel, Mr Bugeja said that according to an agreement signed in 2000, the government pledged to give duty-free fuel to fishermen according to the value of their catch. The system also had to be revised every six months.

However, Mr Bugeja said, following a meeting held last January with ministry officials, including the minister himself, the situation did not change despite pressure from the cooperative. He said that if the government does not honour its commitments by the end of the year “we are ready to do what needs to be done to show Europe and the world what our situation is like”.

Meanwhile, the Environment and Rural Affairs Ministry said yesterday evening that a new insurance scheme was being drawn up after that originally proposed could not be applied because of changes to the EU’s state aid rules.

The ministry said an agreement had been reached months ago with Sunderland Marine.

In a statement, the government said Malta’s catch limit to date was 344 metric tonnes and this had been accepted by the EU. The ministry said it was doing its utmost to protect the interests of local fishermen and Malta was insisting on retaining the status quo.

With regard to the cooperative’s claim that the government had not maintained its agreement on tax-free fuel, the ministry said the agreement was being revised and a new proposal would be presented to the cooperative.

The ministry added that the wholesale fish market would continue to be upgraded as necessary and that a new market would be built using EU funds. It added that the government had committed itself to helping Maltese and Gozitan fishermen.