THE government has finally been forced to make a decision to take over the running of the Isle of Man’s loss-making meat plant.

A new company will be set up by Treasury specifically to run the operation which has been handled up to now by the Isle of Man Fatstock Marketing Association (FMA).

Government will pay £1 for the surrender of the lease for the meat plant at Tromode but sufficient funds will be made available to cover the FMA’s remaining liabilities and allow for “an orderly solvent liquidation of the company”.

The announcement was made by DEFA this morning and brings to an end a long period of speculation about the future of the plant which has found it impossible to make financially viable, facing competition from huge meat processing plants in the UK.

DEFA’s proposal is that the existing workforce of the FMA will transfer to the new company and that the current lease on the meat plant is surrendered and the Department of Infrastructure will enter into a new lease agreement.

The directors of the new company will be drawn from the existing management team plus two appointees from government.

Agriculture Minister John Shimmin says the closure of the plant would be a major blow to farming and the Manx countryside and is urging both farmers and consumers to support the new plan.

A time limit of three years will be allowed for the reshaping of the company and its transfer back into private ownership.