A stevedore (burdnar) - who is claiming his company went bankrupt after his operations were halted back in April – said that Finance Minister Edward Scicluna “lied” to him when he stated that 'old' Maltese stevedores are protected through an EU derogation.

It transpires there is no such derogation in place, a string of e-mails seen by this newsroom show. The European Commission representation in Malta told the stevedore in question that “there is no such derogation”. The stevedore had to fend for himself following a meeting held at Auberge de Castille on 12 June, 2015 in the presence of the Finance Ministry’s lawyer Dr Ivan Sammut, the minister himself, and the ministry’s chief of staff. It is during this meeting that the stevedore is claiming the minister “misinformed” him.

The issue revolves around the ‘old’ stevedores' license to operate their business.

In an e-mail dated 11 July 2015 which was addressed to Dr Sammut, the Prime Minister, Dr Scicluna, the ministry’s chief of staff Tanja Brown, and European Commissioner representative Andreas Naegele, the stevedore insists that the “Minister lied about a derogation in your (Dr Sammut’s) presence and you intervened after the meeting at Castille on 12 June, 2015.

“I have asked you as consultant of the ministry to publish this derogation. I have proof that there is no such derogation.

“Ms Tania Brown promised me that if I have such proof to let her know and she will answer back. Because of these abuses my company had to stop its operations on 17 April 2014 and now is bankrupt, and my family is in serious crisis. I hope that the Prime Minister would open an investigation on this kind of behaviour,” the letter read.

In an e-mail sent on 9 July, the stevedore claimed that the ministry clearly stated when asked that old Maltese stevedores are protected as agreed with the EU. The Malta Customs stopped his company’s operations as a licensed haulier just because he did not have the old 1967 stevedore licence. He claims that after he was taken to court, he was acquitted on the grounds that his licence is valid “but still you (the ministry) insisted that stevedores are protected.

“Last Tuesday I received information from the EU that what you are stating is false that is, that there is no derogation on this matter.”

In reply to the haulier’s 9 July e-mail, Dr Sammut writes that “since the matter is sub-judice at your request, it is not prudent for the ministry to comment at this stage”.

In another e-mail in reaction to the EC’s Malta representation office e-mail, the stevedore asks what is the ministry’s immediate action to safeguard his family’s livelihood “as we are in serious crisis”.