Monkey business

What came to my mind when MEPA chairman Austin Walker compared himself to an expensive car...

I have known Austin Walker before he ascended to the electrical throne at Floriana. He is a good and pleasant man. But as he himself has publicly admitted with Ms Vanessa Macdonald, before that ascension to the throne he had been as conversant with the planning laws much as the milkman is.

This notwithstanding, he compared himself to an expensive car in order to justify his astounding salary. He earns about three times what a Chief Justice or the Prime Minister earns. The morale behind the story of what Mr Walker is trying to relay to the public in general is, if you pay peanuts… you get monkeys. On the other hand, we must avoid employing monkeys who get paid handsomely.

The appointment of people to public posts, when they do not even have the slightest inkling of what the job is all about, is not only counterproductive, but it is also draining our coffers.

Now Austin Walker is an upright and good meaning person. On several occasions we have crossed each other’s paths during the course of our respective professions. I have always found him courteous and competent in his line of work. But was he the right person to take the chairmanship of the Planning Authority, when important matters which the authority has to decide, are at times determined by him casting his decisive vote?

Just before him, that same seat was occupied by another person who may have been extremely successful in the management of his commercial companies, but knew nothing what planning was all about. He may have come to know that planning laws exist the day after he was appointed to the post of chairman of the Planning Authority.

What I am trying to drive home is that the manner of appointment and removal of persons from key positions has always shed doubts on the institutions these people were meant to lead. At times, matters are further compounded when the most competent of persons fall victim to undue criticism from the powers, for simply doing their work to the best of their ability and in a seemingly honest manner.

The current auditor of MEPA comes to mind. Joseph Falzon, a planner by profession who has done an impeccable job, found himself under siege for having exposed what it seems others would have left unearthed. For having done this, and in a sense “embarrassed” Castille, he has now been put against the wall. The law has been changed to the effect that we have to bid him adieu. This we must do not because he fell short of our expectations, but because he has fallen out with those that count politically.

On the other hand, when obvious mismanagement was pointed out by the Auditor General, those responsible were not only protected, but even rewarded. A case in point was the way the radio station known as The Voice Of The Mediterranean run by Richard Muscat, an eminence grise of the party in government. During one of the sittings before the Public Accounts Committee, with great legal pride and a sense of political glee, Austin Gatt came out with the technical hitch that the regulations of public expenditure did not apply to Mr Richard Muscat.

Instead of finding it preposterous and unacceptable that there was a loophole in the law, Austin Gatt used it as a technical escape route to save the “perpetrator”. On that occasion, Dr Austin Gatt, in his capacity as a representative of those that put him Parliament, acted much more as a lawyer to Mr Muscat and less as a representative of the taxpayer, who at the end of the day had to make good for the mishaps of how VOM was managed.

Worse, from what I could gather, the said regulations have not been changed in order to avoid a repeat of the VOM experience. To further rub the salt in the public wound, some time after VOM was closed down, Mr Richard Muscat was appointed Ambassador of Malta to Ireland and where, I am sure he must have visited the Ring Of Kerry to taste some juicy Irish oysters.

Until such time that true national interests do not come into play when it comes to the appointment to and removal of people from key public  positions, this area of the public administration shall remain farcical and tragic at the same time. Other controversies will unavoidably come to haunt us.

Having the government laying down a national policy on how things are to be managed is one thing, appointing the right people to implement it is another thing. This, I believe, is fertile ground for a true and honest debate about necessary institutional reforms. Until such times come, we’ll be having more monkeys and less peanuts.

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Malta Financial Services Authority www.mfsa.com.mt/ Administrative Measures and Penalties In terms of article 4(1)(c) of the Malta Financial Services Authority Act, one of the MFSA’s functions is to keep the general public informed of important developments in the sector that it regulates, and to provide the public with relevant information and guidance. Article 16(8) of the Malta Financial Services Authority Act also provides that: Any administrative or disciplinary sanction or measure, of whatever type, including reprimands or warnings, imposed or decided by the Authority under any law for whose administration it is responsible, shall be subject to publication in such medium and in such manner and for such duration as may be deemed warranted by the circumstances and the nature and seriousness of the breach or wrongdoing. The MFSA is obliged to make public all sanctions and penalties it imposes on its licence-holders so that the general public will be better informed. The current MFSA policy on publication is that after a licence-holder is notified of the MFSA’s decision to impose a penalty or administrative sanction, the MFSA shall publish a notice of the sanction on its website and in such other media deemed appropriate in the circumstances. Where and as applicable, the notice published on the website will indicate clearly whether the penalty or sanction is currently being appealed against. Publication on the MFSA website is based on the following criteria: 16 January 2012: Account deposited from MCC Petroli Company Limited, the Penthouse Level 1, Palazzo Ca'Brugnera, Valley Road, Birkirkara, MALTA << Unauthorised institutions (black list) FINMA instructs appropriate measures against companies or persons who, without having a corresponding authorisation, engage in activities that supervisory legislation describes as requiring authorisation. Potential measures to be taken can range all the way up to the liquidation of the company in question. However, it is possible that FINMA may be unable to carry out its investigations, to issue instructions for the necessary measures or to enforce these measures because, for instance, a company conducts its businesses from abroad or the persons concerned have disappeared. The list below, published by FINMA, shows companies and persons who seem – due to their activities in or from Switzerland, or based on the description of their purpose according to the entry in the commercial register – to perform activities that fall under FINMA's supervision without possessing the necessary authorisation to do so. Inclusion on the list does not necessary mean that the company is performing an illegal activity; however, investors should be made aware that the companies listed here do not have authorisation from FINMA. The list contains the names of the companies and persons in question, their date of inclusion and any other information that may help to protect investors. Companies and persons will be removed from the list as soon as the necessary investigations have been completed and any changes that may be required have been made. Publications until 16.12.2012 Company Name: TGS,Turco Global Service S.r.l.,Angelo Turco Viale Degli Ulivi, 33 - 80040 San Sebastiano Al Vesuvio (NA) tel: +39 081 19575148 The Company do SCAMS, keep money from the clients using a fake auto luxury rental service. Irregularities persecuted by interpol. -Translate in Italian Language: L'azienda Turco Global Service, conduce truffe utilizzando un servizio artefatto di Noleggio Auto di Lusso mirando al trattenimento delle cauzioni versate in anticipo dai clienti.
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Some apologist say "With peanuts you get monkeys" but still, with exhorbitant pay packs you still get monkeys if not baboons.
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Alfred Galea
Competence and accountability have no room in politics or in the way the government does business in Malta. It's no wonder the perception of corruption in Malta is so high.
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doris cassar
Although knowledge of a subject, whichever it is, is a definite advantage, it should by no means be the sole deciding factor. An example-In Malta it has been traditional, although not always the case, that the minister of health is a doctor. Now to become a doctor, especially in our country, you have to be diligent, hardworking and forever studying and keeping up to date. Yet, I can honestly say most doctors I know, including the politicians, could all do with better people management skills. The truth is we are not trained for that, or at least few of us are and yet we become ministers of health. I am saying this in the full knowledge that my colleagues in parliament would have no problem in admitting this shortcome in our training. This simple matter of fact can be expanded to various sectors. At the end competence is not only measured by university degrees but by experience and personal capabilities that do not necessarily have to do with a chosen profession. However, whatever we say is nullified by the way things are currently being done. Unlike the much hyped pre-election promise of public calls for top positions, we are lumped with the people chosen from the 'inner circle'. Granted, among them there are competent individuals, but why the fear of a public call is something I cannot fathom, and lets not even start delving into the issue of accountability. If none of the ministers are accountable, how can we ever expect their appointees to be? The EUPA case is just one glaring example-the appendages of the offending beast were cut off and yet the head was left grinning in our faces. Accountability be damned!