Of contraband, drugs and illegal immigrants

Dr Guido Saliba's "Once upon a dream" column last week again fails to appreciate the operational problems the Maritime Squadron of the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) is currently facing. He seems to be ignorant of the basic facts that Malta's small maritime law enforcement force at sea is also tasked with other duties besides the interdiction of illegal drugs and migrants (my letter The Sunday Times, June 3, 2001 "Presidential Guard".)

What has repeatedly lacked adequate representation in the local media is the lack of personnel and funding by Government to beef up the Maritime Squadron's capability to operate in a fully professional manner. A number of in-house shortcomings fail to cross over from the military camp into the Prime Minister's lap simply because nobody is making an honest and worthy representation of the plight this maritime unit finds itself in.

Basically, although the amount of goodwill and qualified professional dedication of the Squadron officers is not lacking, the personnel shortages within the sea-going and engineering divisions have played havoc on all training and operational readiness. The manpower problems are compounded further with experienced personnel retiring from the Service and the overabundance of malingerers' medical exemptions. To add insult to injury (literally!), those who sustained injuries at their place of duty had points deducted for sickness from their last Promotion Assessment Reports, as they later found out once they complained on being skipped for promotion.

Given this premise, the Squadron has been unable to man fully its offshore patrol Kondor-class vessels for quite some time now, with safety, maintenance and training levels deteriorating in between patrols (whenever they succeed to limp out of Marsamxett on hasty repairs).

The case for qualified tradesmen at Haywharf base has been repeatedly pushed through the AFM administration's works, and only the current dire situation has yielded a fruitful partnership with MCAST'S Maritime Institute. It was sad to register that in their near 32-year history, this year saw the first ever outside mechanical overhaul contracting of the Swift-class patrol vessels' General Motors engines: two little stalwart surface assets that have seen much valid service with the AFM.

Across the board, Dr Saliba must understand that the AFM patrol craft are all between 32 and 34 years old, and one must deliberately omit the brand new Vittoria-class Search and Rescue launches (SAR boats), which are operated at AFM expense for the Civil Protection Department (for want of experienced SAR operators), since the latter are precluded from performing law enforcement tasks according to the Italo-Maltese financial protocol's MOU.

As each patrol at sea (whether inshore or offshore) has become characterised these last years by a high incidence of technical faults, many soldiers consider it pure luck that these glitches have so far not put crew members lives at risk. But with the current state of affairs, fears and tensions have risen among personnel that a grim event of sorts might be just round the corner.

With operational efficiency and personnel morale spiralling downwards, as crews borrow each other's personnel, the prospect of receiving into their fold a new 87-foot fisheries protection cutter from the USA has failed to entice soldiers enough to be more pro-active in their patrolling techniques. Their frequent brushings with go-fast boat runners on their clandestine legs, to and from Sicily, have only enforced their inability to give effective chase with chances of a successful apprehension of significant seizures after a pursuit.

The Maltese government must realise, as it draws nearer to the European Union, that with membership comes the responsibility of maintaining Europe's southernmost border according to Schengen Agreement standards. If it fails to invest significantly in its hardware and people, said border can only become the laughing stock of border enforcement agencies in the halls of Interpol and Brussels.

Maritime Squadron needs new vessels, more staff and cash to operate professionally with its foreign peers. Committing one platoon of infantrymen abroad cannot solve the problems we have at home, and monies are best spent on tangible operations rather than unattainable training scenarios overseas.

Whatever plus points we may have gained with committing one platoon, they are sure to be lost if Malta becomes the new illegal migrant and narcotics' stepping stone into Europe!

Nobody in power seems to have realised enough how vulnerable our coastline and fishing grounds are to illegal activity. All have read of Maltese fishermen's livelihood being threatened by larger foreign concerns, yet only an AFM aircraft was dispatched to overfly the suspect vessels. One dreads to think what other mischievousness occurs around our coastline, which aging ineffective patrol boats or Valletta Port Control fail to detect.

Maybe Dr Saliba ought to pen something to the effect that, as a taxpayer, he'd appreciate more of his money's worth in an all-year-round Water Police like in the past, not just a weather-permitting token presence of the Police Administrative Law Enforcement section in a underpowered pleasure speedboat chasing swan-hunters. (e-mail: josephsammut@searchmalta.com)