Seven senior officials at Delimara power station have filed a judicial protest, claiming to have suffered years of discrimination and injustice.

They said they had suffered a “hostile attitude” and discriminatory treatment at the hands of Johann Zammit, manager and later executive chairperson of International Energy Services Centre Limited, an Enemalta subsidiary.

The Principal Control and Instrumentation Officers (PCIOs) explained that they were transferred to Engineering Resources Ltd and then “loaned” to International Energy Services Centre Limited and assigned to the Delimara power station following a restructuring at Enemalta and the shutdown of the Marsa power station in 2014.

They claimed that since 2015, engineer Zammit adopted an “openly hostile” attitude towards them, in a manner that was “manifestly discriminatory.”

Ludric Vella, Joseph Cassar, Sinclair Tabone, Edmund Vella, Justin Abela, Ivan Scicluna and Reno Tonna said they were prohibited from driving their vehicles into the work premises, were handed work clothes and safety helmets that were different in colour to those of fellow officers and were constrained to use their personal mobile phones for work purposes.

Yet, when they protested over these and other hostile acts in their regard Zammit reacted by telling them that although they were legally right, he was the one who gave the orders and they were to do as he said.

They said that in line with those orders they were to report to Plant Maintenance Officers (PMOs) Electrical rather than to engineers. However, when a new group of PCIOs were appointed in May 2016, their job description said that they were to report to engineers.

And in January 2017, following a “sham” course on “slinging” that was only mere hours long, the chairperson approved a €1000 “major slinging allowance” in favour of three PMOs whose work was not at all related to “slinging,” the men claimed.

Moreover, in 2019 when talks were held with the General Workers' Union on an allowance equivalent to a one-scale rise added to all workers’ basic pay, they  were excluded, the court was told. 

The seven said they felt marginalised and victims of “apartheid,” but "enough was enough".

They called on  Engineering Resources Ltd, International Energy Service Centre Ltd and Zammit as executive chairperson to remedy such “serious shortcomings” within 15 days, without prejudice to further legal action to safeguard their rights. 

Lawyer Michael Tanti-Dougall signed the judicial protest.