BOV chairman addresses political activity

Bank of Valletta chairman John Cassar White was one of four guests invited to address a political activity during which Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was interviewed, part of the EP 2014 elections.

Cassar White, a former Malta Shipyards chairman, was appointed chairman of BOV last year. He was a member of the Labour Party’s Business Forum set up in 2010.

Cassar White’s introduction to the ‘yards was initiated through Alfred Sant when in November 1996 the former banker was asked to come up with a plan for a radical reform aimed at making Malta Drydocks viable and that would nip one of the last historic trade union bastions of militancy in the bud at the height of the New Labour government.

In his intervention during the political activity, Cassar White urged the government to create incentives to encourage more people to join the workforce instead of choosing to remain at home.

Cassar White also urged the government to invest in vocational training and address the skills mismatch.

Muscat plays ‘Bondi card’ to fend off meritocracy criticism

Critics of the Labour government have labelled the meritocracy pledge as the biggest failure of the government, failing to honour its pledge.

But fending off this criticism, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat cited the retention of PBS CEO Anton Attard and the appointment of Lou Bondi on the national festivities board as examples of ‘meritocracy-in-action’.

Interviewed by ONE presenters Simone Cini and Manuel Micallef in Naxxar, Muscat was reacting to a press conference held by PN deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami earlier in the day. According to Fenech Adami, the government was busy creating jobs for Labour insiders.

“But what Fenech Adami declined to say was that individuals he knows very well were not kicked out; a presenter who enjoyed picking on me was appointed to the national festivities board… the CEO of PBS was retained,” Muscat said, referring to Anton Attard a former Nationalist strategist and campaigner.

During the hour-long interview – which saw interventions by PL MEP candidates Alfred Sant and Marlene Mizzi, Economy Minister Chris Cardona and BOV chairman John Cassar White – Muscat said the government would be announcing “great news for the country” on Wednesday.

Questioned about Air Malta, Muscat said the corporation would return to be a company which creates employment.

“The next challenge for Air Malta is to widen its operating markets and, in the coming months, we will show how Air Malta can once again be a company that creates jobs,” Muscat said.

Focusing on the topic of employment, the Labour leader said society should “rediscover the value of work”. A standard question that has become popular among the interviewers is that of why employers were employing more foreigners than Maltese.

According to Muscat, the issue boiled down to skills mismatch: employers not finding workers with the required skills; skilled workers not finding a place of work.

“As a government, we are fighting precarious employment and new measures will be announced in the coming weeks. On their part, employers must provide their employees with the adequate working conditions while the workers themselves have to give their part.

“Our economy’s main resource are the workers and we thus have to ensure that our students and those seeking work are employable,” Muscat said.

The Prime Minister argued that the government was aiding companies to bring over foreigners to work within their companies, with the agreement they would train Maltese and eventually employ them.