Beneficiaries of gifts from oil trader ‘part of Enemalta corruption’ – Fenech

Finance minister Tonio Fenech has stated that anybody at Enemalta who may have received gifts from oil trader George Farrugia "would have been part of the process of corruption" and that the police should step in to take the steps necessary.

Fenech, who is responsible for the state utility, today defended the system of oversight in place at Enemalta and its fuel procurement process, after Farrugia - an agent for commodities firms Trafigura and Total - turned State's evidence to testify on kickbacks Trafigura paid in 2004 to a former Enemalta consultant for the supply of oil to the corporation.

Frank Sammut, the consultant, and former Enemalta chairman Tancred Tabone, were yesterday charged on multiple charges of corruption on the consignment of oil to Enemalta.

"The case, which happened in 2004, makes it clear... so far, nothing like this has happened so far. I have no information of people at Enemalta having accepted gifts from George Farrugia. If we received information of this sort, then the police should step in. If they took gifts they were part of the process of corruption."

Fenech said the government had always carried out the necessary process of scrutiny in people it appointed to positions of authority in government companies. "Tabone was considered as a person of integrity and trust... these are things that happen unfortunately. We have institutions in place to ensure as much as possible that this does not happen."

Asked whether Tabone was not reinstated as Enemalta chairman because of doubts over his administration, Fenech said: "I do not recall any comments of that kind in Cabinet, however, it is normal to change chairmen after a certain amount of time, it is normal to change and it is healthy."

Fenech accused the Labour Party of employing a different yardstick on justice matters. "This government took the necessary steps to recommend a presidential pardon on the basis of a recommendation from the Attorney General and the Commissioner of Police."

On the other hand, Fenech said Labour would quash police reports in a bid to limit damage on its party image, as had been demonstrated in the Toni Abela incident.

At a press conference at the Nationalist Party headquarters today, deputy leader Simon Busuttil defended the imagery of the PN's latest billboard, in which Lawrence Gonzi's and Joseph Muscat's faces were respectively daubed in their party colours of blue and red, carrying a placard saying 'employment' in the case of Gonzi, and 'unemployment' for Muscat.

"I understand that the billboard is also tongue in cheek... surely that was the same spirit when Labour dressed up Gonzi in a Father Christmas suit and with a Brazil football shirt. I think this sense of humour is acceptable.

"But the message is clear: people will have to choose one of these men, one of which will guarantee work, the other unemployment. I'm not at all annoyed at the billboard, and of course, neither is Gonzi."

Fenech today also defended his government's economic record, making special mention of the Nationalist government's direct intervention in giving aid to some 18 factories, among them ST Microelectronics, Trelleborg and Methode, to save thousands of jobs.

"In 2009, STM was shipping its machines outside the factory and workers were told the company had no future in Malta. We reversed this crisis, allowing factories to invest more, gave training to workers on a four-day week, and now these factories have invested €110 million over five years, and increased employment by some 300 workers," Fenech said.

The finance minister also warned that the economy was not out of the woods yet, citing the case of the De La Rue factory which is currently in talks with Malta Enterprise and unions, to ensure the company has a future.

"Muscat's party has neither the vision nor concrete measures of how it will go about creating jobs," Fenech said, referring to his party's pledge to increase jobs by 25,000 over the next five years.

"People out there must be worried about this... we can be promised many nice things, but if one doesn't have a job, their family cannot have a decent standard of living, or achieve their aspirations. This guarantee of work can only be delivered by the PN."

Another intervention came from the German MEP Manfred Weber, from the Bavarian CSU (Christian Social Union) which has held sway over the Bavarian region for decades.

"My message to voters is that they should not change a winning team... the CSU has been governing for 50 years: that is one of the reasons we saw Bavaria developing from what was a rural society into an economic strength. Stability was key."