Take it or leave it, Mgarr boat owners told

Mgarr remains the only harbour in Gozo where boats can be moored, as the sister-island’s geographic reality prohibits boats being moored elsewhere due to the exposure to open sea and heavy winds.

Boat owners claim that they have been ‘sold out’ to a private concern, and are now faced with a Hobson’s choice of paying hefty berthing and utility fees as imposed by newly contracted Harbour Management Limited: the company that has signed the privatisation agreement with government just a few weeks ago.

It is understood that boat owners in Gozo have been told that their new rates are to be increased by an average of between €1,000 and €6,000 a year, excluding VAT and utilities.

Moreover, after five years, the contractor is advising the boat owners that their tariffs can increase further. Boat owners have told MaltaToday that notwithstanding the ‘uniqueness’ of Gozo, where Mgarr is the only existing marina, there has been no consultation with them prior to or after the privatisation agreement was reached.

Contacted yesterday, Gozo minister Giovanna Debono stressed that since maritime issues do not fall under her remit, she so far doesn’t feel the need to bring the matter before Cabinet.

But parliamentary secretary Chris Said told this paper that although the issue does not fall under his remit either, he will insist that the contractor will “abide by the conditions.” A spokesman for Chris Said confirmed that the parliamentary secretary has been approached by boat owners and is closely following the developments.

It is understood that boat owners have requested an urgent meeting with Debono, and representatives from Transport Malta. The same boat owners are claiming that Harbour Management Limited have breached the privatisation agreement by implementing “unreasonable conditions” on them, as well as imposing the changes before the promised investments for the upgrading of the harbour are made.

A meeting between the boat owners and the contractor is reported to have reached no solution, after the same owners were told that the rules and regulations will not be revised by the contractor. Subsequent correspondence has been left unanswered.

One boat owner told MaltaToday that the situation is similar to when the Turks had threatened to attack Gozo in 1551, and the governors back then had asked them to take all they wanted including enslaving all Gozitans, as long as they left the ruling class alone.

“It’s a sell-out,” another boat owner told this paper, while insisting on anonymity given their fear of repercussions for talking. “You must understand that we have nowhere else to go. They are making us pay through our nose, and we have no other choice but to either sell our boats and forget boat ownership in Gozo,” another owner said.

Meanwhile, the new contractor is reportedly insisting that he will be removing the designated swimming areas inside and outside the marina, thus depriving Gozitans of two areas that have been buoyed for years by the MMA. One of the swimming areas that is situated outside the Mgarr breakwater to the left is known to be a pristine site for swimming, but will have to disappear as it will be blocked off as large mooring buoys are set to be placed instead for super-yachts to be anchored.

Contacted yesterday, Harbour Management Limited director Pierre Balzan said that his fees had been negotiated with government as part of the privatisation package, and that the company is bound with a commitment to invest large sums of money for the upgrading of the marina to the highest standards.

Balzan denied ever having used any bullying tactics to intimidate boat owners, and stressed that the majority of people are in favour of changes and modernization of the Mgarr marina. “I am running a business here and I have a number of obligations I must keep to, including seeing to the interests of the current boat owners,” Balzan said. “But I cannot have boat owners who don’t pay their fees to remain inside the marina. I believe my company is being fair, and that the charges and conditions reflect the reality of the investments that are being made to improve the marina.”