New MEPA CEO’s salary €10,000 less than predecessor

Johann Buttigieg, the new chief executive officer of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, is receiving an annual salary of  €60,000, a spokesperson for Junior Minister Michael Farrugia confirmed.

This means that the new CEO is being paid 10K less than his predecessor, Ian Stafrace, made in his final year in office.

When he was appointed in 2011, Stafrace received a basic salary of €65,000 - which was set to increase to €70,000 in the second and third years of his appointment.

Buttigieg, who is in charge of the day-to-day running of MEPA, will be earning three times as much as present MEPA Chairman Vince Cassar, who was appointed on a part-time basis with a salary of €18,000. 

For his part, Stafrace used to earn less than former MEPA Chairman Austin Walker, who back in 2008 was appointed executive chairman - a full-time role which encompassed the roles of chairman and chief executive - enjoying a salary of €93,000. 

Salaries for MEPA's two top posts

2009

Austin Walker (Executive Chairman).................... €93,000
Total:......................................................... €93,000

2011

Austin Walker (Chairman)................................. €93,000
Ian Stafrace (Chief Executive)........................... €65,000
Total........................................................ €158,000

2012

Austin Walker (Chairman)................................. €93,000
Ian Stafrace (Chief Executive)........................... €70,000
Total........................................................ €163,000

2013

Vince Cassar (Chairman).................................. €18,000
Johann Buttigieg (Chief Executive).................... €60,000
Total.......................................................... €78,000

Walker's salary was 15K higher than the combined salary of the present chief executive and chairman, who together now earn €78,000.

Moreover, Walker still retained his €93,000 salary after the appointment of Ian Stafrace as MEPA chief executive in 2011 despite a commitment by the Office of the Prime Minister to revise his salary "once the transition is over and the roles of the chairman and the CEO are settled".  This resulted in a combined salary bill of €163,000, which is double the combined salary of the present CEO and chairman.

One notable difference is that while the present chairman can still exercise his profession as an architect (except for presenting MEPA applications), Walker was precluded from performing any private work during his tenure.

Moreover, while Stafrace had to resign from his legal firm (Stafrace & Associates Advocates, which was also entrusted with a substantial part of MEPA's legal caseload), Buttigieg finds himself promoted from senior planning officer to the top post at the Authority.

More direct appointments

Stafrace's direct appointment to the post in the absence of any call for applications was criticised by the Labour opposition and censured by former MEPA Auditor Joe Falzon.

For his part, Buttigieg was appointed CEO following an internal call for applications, to which only two people replied.

But his appointment was considered a foregone conclusion after he was described as a "point of reference in MEPA" by Junior Minister Michael Farrugia four days after Ian Stafrace's resignation and weeks before the internal call was issued.

Buttigieg joined the Authority as an enforcement officer and later became a case officer. He then became a senior planning officer and was assigned to major projects.

In his role, Buttigieg worked on the South Malta Sewage Treatment Plant, the Flood Relief Project, the Ten-T project and Smart City. In 2012, Buttigieg was censured by former MEPA Auditor Joe Falzon for providing misleading information in a case officer report recommending the approval of a controversial development in Rabat.

Buttigieg was the case officer who recommended the approval of the development of a multipurpose hall, stores and offices for the Xara Palace Hotel.

In his report, Falzon called on MEPA to withdraw the permit in question and reproached both the case officer and team manager for their "carelessness" and "incompetence", asking MEPA to take action against both officers.

Another direct appointment by the new government was that of Robert Musumeci as its advisor on planning.

Earlier this week, MaltaToday revealed that Robert Musumeci, in his role as government's advisor on MEPA reform, is paid €24,535 for his part-time appointment: €6,535 more than MEPA's own Chairman, Vince Cassar.

Musumeci, a practising architect who regularly applies for permits on behalf of his own clients, finds no conflict of interest between his professional role and his appointment, insisting that he is no way involved in MEPA's decision-making process.

Musumeci's consultative role is described by the government as giving "technical opinions on matters concerning administrative procedures in the field of planning legislation in the interest of simplification and coherence", a spokesperson for Michael Farrugia, the junior minister responsible for planning and simplification, told MaltaToday.

The combined salary of the new government's three major appointees in the planning sectors, namely MEPA Chairman Vince Cassar, CEO Johann Buttigieg and the government's advisor on planning refor, Robert Musumeci, amounts to €103,000.