PM, minister 'must answer for Sea Malta sale howlers'

The deputy leader of the Malta Labour Party, Charles Mangion, yesterday called on Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Investments Minister Austin Gatt to assume personal and political responsibility for the "howlers" of the Sea Malta privatisation.

Addressing a press conference, Dr Mangion said the Investments Minister had acted irresponsibly when he used the report drawn up by Mimcol chief executive officer Mario Mizzi about the valuation of the ship Maltese Falcon to point an accusing finger at Sea Malta officials and its board of directors.

In a letter sent to Dr Gonzi last Friday, Dr Gatt said the Mimcol report showed that "Sea Malta directors and other company officials had failed to inform the Privatisation Unit and Malta Government Investments Limited that the valuation of mv Maltese Falcon had gone up".

Dr Gatt said that former chairman Marlene Mizzi and other members of the management had refrained from informing the negotiators that the value of Sea Malta's major asset had gone up to $5.5 million - more than $1 million over the previous valuation of the ship - during crucial moments of the negotiations.

Countering the minister's claims, Dr Mangion said the Mimcol report itself showed that information had been available to MGI at the Sea Malta data room.

He said Sea Malta officials or its directors were not involved in the talks with Atlantica Spa di Navigazione so they could not be blamed for withholding information, as Dr Gatt had suggested.

On the contrary, it was the PU and MGI's shortcoming if they went on with the signing of the memorandum of understanding without waiting for the audited accounts and, hence, the revaluation of the Maltese Falcon.

"The government ignored the latest audited accounts which are considered essential for any transfer of shares. The Sea Malta financial year ends on March 31 and those involved in talks with the prospective buyers should have known that the audited accounts are usually issued a few months later," Dr Mangion said.

He pointed out that according to the report, Sea Malta had requested the revaluation of the Maltese Falcon in order to accede to a request by the auditors and that the valuation report reached Sea Malta on June 15, a day after the memorandum was signed by the parties.

Dr Mangion added that the government was the custodian of national assets but was irresponsibly selling off a strategic company like Sea Malta in a process that was characterised by the "incompetence of a minister who declares that Sea Malta was bankrupt and that it would be closed down if it is not sold".

Dr Mangion said the inquiry which Dr Gatt called for in his letter should not probe the Sea Malta board but rather the process and whoever was responsible for it.

He reiterated that the opposition fundamentally disagreed with Sea Malta's privatisation and the government should stop the process immediately.

It was pointed out to Dr Mangion that the government had, on a number of occasions, invited him to take up the matter at the parliamentary public accounts committee which is chaired by the opposition. Dr Mangion replied that the MLP preferred a full-blown investigation as established by the Inquiries Act as the PAC would not give an "executive judgement".

"We will make sure that strategic routes are operated when we are in government," Dr Mangion said when asked what a Labour government would do if essential routes are not serviced by the future Sea Malta owners.

He would not be drawn into saying whether a Labour government would buy back Sea Malta or set up another sea line. "We will see what to do in the circumstances," Dr Mangion said.

In an official reply yesterday evening, the Investments Ministry said Dr Mangion's claims showed that the MLP "opposed privatisation and favoured state control of the economy".

The ministry said Dr Mangion's conclusions were misleading, reiterating that the Mimcol report confirmed that board members and Sea Malta directors had withheld the revised valuation of the Maltese Falcon from the PU and MGI when they knew that the information was so pertinent to negotiations.

The statement included a list of points already raised in the letter published by Dr Gatt last week and which said that the PU and MGI were kept in the dark by Sea Malta that a revaluation of the vessel had been requested from Barry Rogliano Salles on May 30, two weeks before the memorandum had been signed.

"It is normal that in the privatisation process, the government's negotiators rely on information provided by the directors and management of a company. The report drawn up by Mimcol lists all the facts relating to this issue notwithstanding which parts of the report Dr Mangion may quote out of context," the ministry said.