Interview 21/07/2002

On fishermen, farmers and politics

Ninu Zammit talks to Mario Schembri Wismayer about the future of fishing and agriculture and his life in politics

After a short moment of uncertainty at the messengers’ table regarding the large camera I am lugging, I am led up a lift and down a couple of corridors to the offices of Mr Ninu Zammit, Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries. The minister arrives a few minutes after me and we walk into his office.

I start the interview by asking the minister what he thinks about the fact that some fishermen were saying that they were not going to recognise the agreement reached with the EU "The few fishermen who don’t agree with the new system have to keep in mind that Malta belongs to everyone and that laws have to be respected. The great majority of the fishermen are very reasonable people and easily understand and accept what we are doing. All over the world we have the problem of over-fishing. And the fishing effort, globally, has to be reduced by about forty per cent so as to keep the fish stocks at a viable and sustainable level. Otherwise, if more fish are caught then regenerated, the fish stocks will become dangerously depleted. This is not something local; it is simply part of the global consensus that fishing has to be more tightly managed to give the fish space where to regenerate. We have had a 25-mile zone since around 1971 in which only Maltese fishermen can fish. Now, Malta has negotiated with the EU to turn this into a conservation zone. The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), which includes the EU as a block as a member as well as Malta, concurs with the concept of creating various conservation zones. Scientific studies of the zone around our islands were carried out by Maltese and foreign groups. The outcome of these studies showed that, effectively, we have a balance between what is being regenerated and what is being caught; it is a fifty-fifty equilibrium, what is refered to as optimum sustainable yield."

"We also know for a fact that over eighty percent of the fish caught are captured outside the twenty-five mile zone. So in order to set up and maintain a sustainable system we carried out an inventory of all the fishing boats that operate from Malta. These amount to about 1850 vessels in all. We divided the boats into three categories; those that are between six to eight metres long, those that are between eight and 12 metres long and those of between 12 and 24 metres long. The rest fall into the category of over 24 metres in length. The Government is offering financial help to give the fishermen the opportunity to upgrade and remain competitive. The money is being given strictly to cover their needs and nothing is wasted. Vessels which are over 12 metres in length are to be equipped with a tracking system and have to fish outside the zone, except for those that fish for lampuki and those that fish by lantern (lampara). With regards to trawlers between 12m and 24m, these can perform their fishing in specific ones according to the engine horsepower of the vessel. Moreover, one hundred and thirty lines of orientation are available to lampuki fishermen and these are always taken up, except for the few which radiate outwards from the Grand Harbour which are fouled up because of traffic."

"Another positive aspect of Maltese fishing since when we reactivated the application to join the Union, is that the EU import levy on fish-farm produce has been reduced to seven per cent this year. Next year this should be zero per cent. In two years time we will have no limit to how much fish we export to the EU. This will have no levy anymore"

"The total fishing effort for the zone has now been established and cannot be increased. Effectively, this means that no new fishing licences will be issued."

The subject turns to subsidies. I ask Mr Zammit for his views on the apparent anomaly that exists, where fishermen and farmers are receiving subsidies, while the subsidies of the dockyard are being slowly cut off. "The dockyard has to be restructured to become more cost effective. The financial injection we are giving farmers and fishermen is to make them more competitive. Who does not keep up, gets left behind. It’s a matter of being smart – we need to equip ourselves to be able to compete. The dockyard is subsidised because of different problems, like for example, over-manning. Other corporations also have this problem of being over-staffed and inefficient, thanks to the 9000 people that were suddenly employed before the 1987 elections. They need to be downsized and made to become more productive. Fishermen are efficient, but they need the tools to become more efficient. They are two different matters. The EU helps fishermen in this regard." I argue if that is the case, when will we see the first EU funds for agriculture and fisheries coming our way? "We are in pre-accession stage. The EU created special access funds for candidate countries, but at that time our application had been frozen so we could not benefit from them. Most of the other candidate countries benefited from an available fund of 520 million per annum Euros under the Special Accession Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development. Having activated our application, our agricultural sector stands to get five million Euros, of which 1.8 have already been paid through different schemes. The remaining 3.2 million Euro will go for rural development and will be available as from next year. With this money we have to ensure against and control certain things such as soil erosion, mastitis and other projects which come under the control of the Integrated Administrative Control Systems, as well as projects related to rural development."

Staying with the EU, we discuss what it was costing candidate countries to adopt EU laws, keeping in mind that the member countries had all the time in the world to change gradually. "We applied today. We applied to join the EU; the EU did not apply to join us. If you take average per capita income of the candidate countries, you’ll notice that the income of those in EU countries is much higher. The EU is made up of net contributors and net receivers. Initially we will be net receivers. The philosophy behind the EU enlargement is that is no-one should be worse off after joining the EU than before. We need to be smart and realise that it pays us as a country to join the EU. The EU forks out about 43 billion Euros to sustain and subsidise its agriculture. This annual fund is provided to the various stakeholders through two financial pillars or channels; ninety per cent goes out in direct payments which are related to production, while ten per cent goes out for rural development."

"With the present modus operandi of the EU agricultural sector, the first pillar provides financial subsidy based on quantity of production, which system has resulted in surplus productions (butter mountains, wine and milk lakes, etc) and which surplus production has to be subsidised again in order to be sold at competitive prices on the international market. The EU has been engaged in a progressive effort to eliminate this costly problem since 1992, and in is present mid-term review further surplus elimination is being proposed. One of the proposals is to shift big financial chunks from the first pillar (production related subsidy) to the second pillar, i.e. to rural development. This move will facilitate the objective of achieving more safe quality produce and a fairer and just apportionment of the EU agriculture budget." At the end of the day, the EU wants to reduce excess production. Whatever causes distortion of the market has to be removed. In this way the Third World will get a square chance."

"Besides looking at the farmer as a producer we should also see him as a protector of the landscape and for this he needs extra help. For this he needs to be paid. He needs to be paid for storing rain water and thus relieving pressure on the aquifer, for producing quality produce, for maintaining the rural landscape, etc.

The discussion turns to agriculture. I ask Mr Zammit what his stance regarding Geneticaly modified Organisms is. "A lot of discussion is still going on. We want the food to be safe and labelled clearly. Where there is doubt, all precautions are taken to ensure that safety comes first. The Food Safety Act ensures that the public will be suitably informed. An updating of most sectors that have to do with agriculture is happening. This amounts to a small revolution."

Mr Zammit reminisces about the days when he was minister for water and electricity. I ask him why the Marsa plant is still running. "At the Marsa Power Station, between 1983 and 1985, the socialist administration installed two new boilers which cost Lm6 million each and which had a life-span of around 25 years. These new boilers formed essential parts of generating units that comprised outdated but refurbished second hand turbines. One cannot stop using two new boilers that still have a lot of service just because we had started the commissioning of the first phases of the De,limara Power Station. One has to keep in mind that the Delimara Power Station was designed to be built in stages. In 1987 we did not have spare generating capacity, hence the consequent systemised electricity shedding whenever faults occurred and/or when the demand shot up."

"Up to 1994 we had already doubled the generating capacity that we had in 1987, but we still had to utilise the capacity of Marsa Power Station to meet the ever rapidly increasing demand. Apart from this fact, investment worth tens of million of liri in the distribution system had to be made. The distribution capacity was increased five fold, the maximum distribution voltage was increased to 132KV from 33 KV, reinforcement of supply was carried out all over the islands and the number of distribution centres was increased substantially in parallel with the construction of innumerable sub-stations. All this necessitated huge capital investment. During the period when I was responsible for water and energy, the production capacity and the generating capacity of water and electricity respectively were doubled to a level where for the first time we had adequate spare production and generating capacity."

What is the minister’s opinion about the possibility of placing a golf on arable land? "The two uppermost factors in this matter are water and planning. The way I see it, the biggest problem is water, but I would rather not comment as we are waiting for the decision of the PA. The beginning of this project goes back to pre-1996 and many factors are at play."

I enquire as to how the minister got involved in politics. "I contested and was elected for the first time in 1981 and I have been elected ever since. I used to go the Nationalist Party Club; the late Dr Carmelo Caruana was getting on in years and people started to encourage me to contest the elections. So I did."

Today’s Nationalist Party compared to yesterday’s; what are the main differences? "The Nationalist Party has spread its roots. Increasingly it has become the party of the people, regardless of social background. It has done away with its image of the party of the rich."

Who is Ninu Zammit? "People might think of me one way, but I am different. I do not like fighting, and I just cannot stand anybody shouting and bullying around. I like to listen to everybody because I believe that I can learn from other people’s experiences and ideas. Before embarking on any new work, I study and analyse and then I act. I am a typical family man. I wish that I could have spent more time with my children when they were growing up."

I ask Mr Zammit if he had any hobbies. My main hobby is gardening. I love citrus and olive trees and vines. I carry out most maintenance work at home. I love making wine and, until very recently, I also used to breed rabbits. I also like reading various publications that deal with current affairs and others about fishing, energy and agriculture. I also like biographies."

Any pet hates? "I cannot stand egoism, people who don’t stick to their word. To me, a word given is like a contract."

The minister and I shake hands and he accompanies me to the main corridor.