Pullicino adviser to serve in building regulations office

Additional reporting by Julia Farrugia

The ministry for resources and rural affairs has told MaltaToday that the architect Arthur Apap, revealed in a PQ of having been engaged on four-month contract on a €24,000 fee, will be serving as an adviser to minister George Pullicino in the Building Regulations office.

"The office can now function after the parliamentary approval of the building regulations law. The office will implement regulations including the safeguarding of neighbours' rights during construction works and the classification of contractors," a spokesperson for Pullicino said.

The ministry added that during his four-month employment, Apap, 62, will stop practicing his profession. "His engagement required him to work for at least eight hours per day without being eligible for overtime. He was given a temporary contract because the office needs to be operative with immediate effect before the end of the process which will see the permanent employment of somebody else."

Apart from the monthly €6,000 wage, Apap will receive a monthly €290 car cash allowance and mobile phone facilities.

Although the contract is only valid for four months, it could be extended for a further period. Attempts to speak to Apap were futile. A person who took MaltaToday's call to Apap's office said Apap "is never in the office".

The ministry insists that the engagement is in line with established procedures and was approved by the permanent secretary. The ministry also stressed that it was not pressed to publish the contract but was tabled in Parliament on 2 February.

The conditions of payment for Pullicino's personal secretariat and other political appointees appointed as 'persons of trust' to government entities, were revealed in a reply to a PQ by constituency 'rival' Robert Arrigo.

The ministry belatedly tabled the contracts of Ronald Camilleri, Albert Caruana, Mathieu Cilia, Alicia Said and Emanuel Schembri, last week in parliament in a reply to a further PQ by Labour MP Charles Buhagiar.

Ronald Camilleri, the former head of the minister's secretariat at the Ministry of Rural Affairs and the Environment, was engaged as an "adviser" in November 2011 on three year contract worth €35,216 annually. He is also entitled to free mobile phone and internet facilities.

Albert Caruana was employed by the ministry in December 2008 as an environmental projects coordinator. He was engaged on a one-year contract worth €31,873.

In March 2011, the ministry awarded Mathieu Cilia a one-year €32,191 contract as the ministry's "projects coordinator". Cilia stepped down as president of the PN's youth organ in June 2010. He held the post for five years. Cilia, a canvasser for Pullicino, has also held other posts within the ministry and was responsible for the events celebrating the reopening of St George's Square  in 2009.

Another contract was awarded to Alicia Said in November 2011. She was engaged as an "adviser" on a one-year €22,272 contract.

Emanuel Schembri was employed in May 2010 for an initial eight-month contract. Schembri was engaged as "senior manager for services to be rendered to the civil abattoir". He received a €32,130 salary, a fully-expensed car, a telephone landline and mobile phone and internet facilities.

All five were employed on a full time basis. The persons were engaged as political appointees, accountable to Minister George Pullicino, and not as civil servants.