Seeing through them

The story can be read in detail in MaltaToday and shows to what extent corruption involved the political class and their cronies.  

It also talks about the victims.

What is not reported is that those cronies continued to make money and evade justice under this administration, and that justice failed those who were wronged.

This story brings back what happened over 25 years ago, and rekindles memories of corruption under a Labour government.

However, it also shows how this administration failed to address the injustices of yesteryear.

The timing of the court decision raised questions. However, it also indicts the sluggish approach by the judiciary, before Justice Silvio Meli took the bull by the horns.

More so when the whistleblower who was responsible in revealing the extent of corruption (then in the land permits racket) was ceremoniously and swiftly arrested by John Rizzo's police force last week, just because the notorious Head of Government's Internal audit, Rita Schembri, alleged that there was an attempt at blackmail - after she received an email.

The whistleblower in question was Joe Borg, and he was scandalously refused bail by Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera (whose late father was mentioned by Borg some years ago to the Commission on Corruption). 

Fortunately, another Magistrate who heard his urgent case did offer him bail despite the ridiculous claims by the police headed by Inspector Pullicino that he would contaminate evidence.

Only yesterday, the Nationalist Party said that Justice Farrugia Sacco should resign.  The story was, of course, reported in The Times.

I wonder why the PN didn't also demand the same of Marthese Portelli and Matheu Cilia who sit on the Wastserv board. The two not only held - or hold - political appointments in the PN, but were politically appointed by the PN too.

This week, the Auditor General rapped the Wastserv board for issuing a €29 million direct order. What was originally a six-month contract with a JF security worth €1 million was turned into a four-year contract worth €29 million, without the Finance Ministry's approval being sought.

We are not talking about peanuts here. €29 million is a lot of money, which I am sure JF director Peter Formosa will be so pleased to explain in detail how much reflected recurrent expenditure and how much was real profit.

Perhaps his legal team will find the time to explain to this newspaper in some detail since the monies in question are public funds originating from our taxes.

It would also be interesting to see if there were other contractors who could have offered a better and cheaper deal.

I wonder what the Wastserv board has to say to that. Well, they did say that they cooperated with the auditor in full. 

They also asked a MaltaToday journalist to personally visit the board, instead of sending out answers to his questions.

The board has said that they cooperated with the Auditor and, of course, George Pullicino ran a mile, making sure that he is not in the limelight.

Just because someone cooperates does not mean they are any close to not being guilty in ignoring procurement regulations. 

For years, Wastserv has been managed and administered as if it were the fiefdom of those who are close to the Nationalist party. It certainly was managed by those appointed by the Nationalist government.

It seems to be 'call for a resignation' week.

On Saturday morning, the PN issued a call for Justice Farrugia Sacco to resign. I wonder what drives them to ask for a resignation.

I wonder did they call on Manuel Delia - that pompous type who captained the transport reform and made a f****** mess - to resign?

Did they ask the PBS board to resign when they knew that a discussion programme on 'Satanism' was fabricated?

I wonder: did the PN ask Rita Schembri to resign?

Did they ask Godwin Grima, the principal permanent secretary, to resign when the data of all those in the civil service was passed on to a political party?

Did they ask the Commissioner of Police to resign when an inmate allegedly fell to his death while in police custody in Floriana?

Did they ask the former Attorney General to resign when he declared the criminal case against two Maltese doctors as nulle prosequi in the case of a small six-year old boy who died. It was proven that there was medical negligence?

Did they ask for the resignation of Tonio Fenech when he travelled on a private jet with George Fenech and Joe Gasan?

Or when he asked his canvassers - the Montebello brothers who are now facing criminal charges in the Noel Borg Hedley case - to work on his home? Or when Borg Hedley (Fenech's secretary) asked for money from the Montebello brothers to erase administrative fees?

(And please note in all cases the Gasans, the Fenech and the Montebellos were all intrinsically connected to the future of Jerma Palace Hotel, apart from so many other things.)

The answer to all these questions is a resounding NO.

And yet when Sliema PN Mayor Nikki Dimech was sentenced to one-year imprisonment, a supersonic press statement was issued by the PN, effectively saying: "we told you so".

Incredible - no one in his right senses seems to have asked the PN the million-dollar question: "Who the hell chose Nikki Dimech to stand in the party's name in the first place?" The answer is: the PN itself.

Needless to say, the PN forgot to mention that at one point, the Prime Minister himself was to be Nikki Dimech's witness at his planned wedding.

It was not only people like Gonzi and Joe Saliba who wanted Nikki Dimech, but there were others who supported him. Robert Arrigo was one of them too.

The same can be said of Silvio Zammit, the man investigated by OLAF. He was Minister Refalo, Frendo and Dalli's canvasser and one of the PN most effective canvassers in Sliema.

I could go on.

At the very end of the day, the lesson to be learnt from all this, is that political parties and the politicians should not be taken seriously. They use you and dispose of you.

People in politics seem to be in politics not because of their interest in changing things but rather to see what they can gain for themselves.

The sick tradition of placing political animals such as was the case with Marthese Portelli and Matheu Cilia in sensitive positions such as the Wastserv board is wrong.  The first thing I would ask is: what are their qualifications in waste management policy?

And the second thing I would ask: Why do you need political appointees in the first place? Do you really need a loyal political animal to decide things at Wastserv apart from, that is, giving a €29 million contract to JF?

Is there some ideologically-driven policy being applied at Wastserv that would make a Labourite, Green, Black or Blue unsuitable?

As far as I know, waste management has no 'security risk', and even if it did, I would not trust those political appointees with national security issues.

The truth is that these positions are awarded simply to say 'thank you' to those political agents who are loyal to the party.

Which is why the political structures are wrong.

And which brings me to the next question: will this change if there is a new government?

I am afraid not. It will not, and if it does, there will be few people who will thank Joseph Muscat. When Alfred Sant tried to apply some sense in the policy that goes into appointing people, he was treated with utter disdain.

Muscat would do well to go ahead with meritocracy despite the fact that no one will ever applaud him. But he should apply one criterion.

Those individuals and companies who are eligible for contracts but have been discriminated against, should be awarded extra points, and those people and companies who have always had it good for the wrong reasons for a number of years, should have points removed.

It is not only gender equality that we need but more importantly, we need a commercial and economic level playing field.

***

When Franco Debono appears in parliament tomorrow, expect the blood pressure of all those present to rise. Whether you like the guy or not, you have to agree that the man has invigorated parliament and the political discourse.

He has also contributed to raising fundamental questions about Gonzi's leadership qualities. 

There is not much room for further debate on this matter.

We await Monday evening with bated breath.