Accord In Malta

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31320, 16 March 1967, Page 16

Accord In Malta

The Maltese and British Governments, wisely taking second thoughts on the problem of Malta’s future, have compromised on the dispute over the run-down of the island’s military establishment. Although Malta, too, has good grounds for asking to be treated as “ a special case ”, the British Government could not be expected to abandon its plans to reduce its overseas garrisons. This is compelled as much by dire economic circumstances as by the changes of status in Singapore, Aden, Malta, and elsewhere. Britain’s announced intention to withdraw troops from Malta within two years was more than a little harsh. On the other hand, Dr. Borg Olivier was on dubious ground in claiming that the withdrawal decision breached the defence agreement; and his proposal to enforce on the troops and the Royal Air Force a boycott of supplies and fuel could only have hastened the withdrawal he sought to avert. In the outcome Dr. Olivier was wise enough to postpone the third reading of his Visiting Forces Bill, which would have required the immediate expulsion of the garrison. Now, in a calmer political atmosphere, proposals have been approved for a rephasing of the withdrawal over a period of five years, for higher redundancy payments for Maltese civilians likely to be unemployed, for an increase of £3 million in economic aid, and for the appointment of a mission to assist in reshaping the island’s economy. This compromise takes account of the special circumstances which require, from the British viewpoint, a sympathetic understanding of Malta’s difficulties.

Dr. Olivier’s Government was in no strong position to argue that it was being meanly treated. It is already receiving aid from Britain totalling £5O million over a period of 10 years—£lB a head each year. That figure apparently is to be increased. The suggestion that a joint industrial mission—instead of a British one—should examine and report on the island’s industrial potential is also sound. It was accepted by the Government after having been put forward in the House of Commons by Mr Duncan Sandys; the mission will have the vital task of planning a civilian economy capable of using Malta’s skilled labour when the military installations have been vacated.

The island is not without prospects. With assistance from Britain the great naval dockyard has been converted for civilian use and should pay its way this year. Visible exports have risen from virtually nothing to £4 million in the last six years. The tourist industry is building up encouragingly. Britain has also offered to increase the island’s immigration quota to Britain, although the present quota has not yet bee a fully taken up. All in all, there are reasonable hopes that Malta will get through the period of reconstruction satisfactorily, building, in the long run, an economy capable of sustaining itself instead of one wholly founded, as in the past, on a British military presence.