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Matthew Vella
The state’s industrial development agency Malta Enterprise, is currently owed Lm4.6 million in rental arrears for factory space, a figure which may not quite show the real extent of the picture.
General manager estates at Malta Enterprise Patrick Catania told MaltaToday that Malta Enterprise would not be divulging any information with respect to the unrecoverable rental arrears which have accumulated over the past five years.
Catania said the calculation of the provision for bad debts was an ongoing exercise and refused to give MaltaToday a breakdown of the companies that owe Malta Enterprise payments in respect of rent. “We cannot divulge any information of a commercial nature. We’re talking about our debtors here.”
As at the end of October 2004, a substantial amount of the outstanding rental arrears of Lm4.6 million was owed by companies that are no longer operational or have gone into liquidation, Catania told MaltaToday. Around ten civil actions are still pending against companies that owe Malta Enterprise rental arrears.
“Malta Industrial Parks, which is now the company responsible for the management of government-owned industrial premises, has embarked on an exercise to negotiate fair and manageable repayment programmes with companies having outstanding balances,” Catania told MaltaToday.
“If this attempt fails, MIP will have no alternative but to resort to all actions contemplated in Maltese legislation in order to recover the amounts due.”
matthew@newsworksltd.com
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