With two of the heaviest responsabilities falling within his portfolio, the youngest Minister in the House has a tough nut to crack. Ramona Depares interviews Dr Tonio Borg

He may be the youngest Minister in the house, but his portfolio contains some of the toughest responsibilities, the ones that attract the most flak. But for one who has been involved in the political scene since he was seventeen, Minister for Home Affairs and the Environment Dr Tonio Borg, all this comes as part of the daily job.

Starting his political career by founding the Studenti Demokristjani Maltin in the early seventies, Dr Borg quickly climbed up the political ladder until in 1981 he contested his first election under the Nationalist party at the age of twenty-four.

"I contested my first election together with Censu Galea and Francis Zammit Dimech. All three of us had been involved so deeply in the party that when the contestants’ names were being called out everyone took it for granted that ours would be among them. We never approached anyone to submit ours names, we were simply included as a matter of course. None of us made it that first time, although had there been a by-election it might have been a different story," he remembers.

At the time, the young Dr Borg was starting to get involved in human rights, working alongside renowned human rights lawyer Vanni Bonello. But he still followed the political scene closely, describing that particular period as a "very interesting one, but not one that he’d care to be repeated". The 1987 elections arrived and again the young politician did not make it. Finally, in 1992, he won his first seat in Parliament, spent a couple of years as a backbencher until in April 1995 Prime Minister Fenech Adami decided to formally confirm the rumours of an imminent cabinet re-shuffle that had been hogging the dailies for weeks.

"Rumours were rife at the time and of course, one does have an inkling of what is happening. So when the Prime Minister’s secretary organised a meeting I made sure that I wore my best suit and in the excitement got there about half an hour early. I ended up walking around Valletta twice! Then as I went up the stairs it occurred to me that this meeting might be about something completely different than what I was hoping… and in that case I’d have felt a real fool. Thank goodness it wasn’t though, and I ended up being the only one to be appointed minister directly from the backbench," Dr Borg continues.

To date, Dr Borg has retained his appointment bar from two years when the Labour government returned to power. And of course, the more recent addition of environment enforcement to his portfolio has only served to put him further in the limelight – not to mention the direct line of fire.

Being responsible for the police corps, the first question that naturally springs to mind is how the sex scandal that surrounded former commissioner of police George Grech affected the image of the corps and whether this image is slowly improving.

"Every commissioner leaves his particular imprint on the corps and Commissioner Grech did numerous good things throughout his service. Now it is John Rizzo’s turn to enrich the corps, he feels particularly strong about keeping the public informed about whatever is going on. Which is good and also helps strengthen the image of the corps," Dr Borg replies.

Not that he does not have certain reservations about the press. He feels that sensationalism, especially when reporting cases that are not yet in court hinders the investigations. Ever the human rights supporter, he re-iterates that people who are investigated by the police should always be presumed innocent until proved otherwise. He mentions one particular instance when this maxim was flouted by the press and photos of an identity parade were published.

"This sensationalism is good for no-one. The press must also bear in mind that if police investigations are still underway there is a good chance that publishing information about the case will prejudice the police’s work. And at the end of the day, I believe that exposing people who are not even yet formally accused is a violation of their rights. The violation is made a hundred times worse by the fact that the island is very small and everyone knows everyone else," the Minister exclaims.

I go back to the subject of the former commissioner and ask whether he feels that government mishandled this particular case by withholding basic information unless requested through a parliamentary question. Dr Borg is quick to deny this, saying that as soon as the first allegations were made his ministry had immediately issued a release stating that there would be no interference in the in genere inquiry.

"The judiciary was responsible for the case and I made it a point never to interfere. But I do believe that it was wrong of the press to leak the story while the inquiry was still running, many details came out that could easily have jeopardised the case. I still kept out of the controversy and my only comment was that since the person being investigated was a public figure the inquiry had to be concluded as quickly as possible."

I point out that many believed that precisely because Mr Grech enjoyed such a high profile, he should have been suspended from duties immediately when the allegations were made public. Dr Borg disagrees and insists that a mere investigation should not be cause for someone to be removed (m’ghandniex naqbdu u nqacctulu rasu).

"Even the opposition was against such an idea and I think it is important to point this out. When the story first came out, the Labour Party did not think that Mr Grech should be suspended immediately," he states.

I move on to another, no less controversial subject, that is police security on the job. The Minister immediately comments that police work is inherently dangerous and no amount of safety measures would completely remove this element. He describes how improvements have indeed been made: today it is not only the SAG who have bullet proof vests, but any officer who is the first to go on the scene of the crime.

"It is impossible to equip every single police officer with a bullet-proof vest. Our security is the same level as that in other countries, no more and no less. When the commissioner requested that officers doing bank duty be issued with these vests, the request was immediately complied with. Deaths on the job are not common, thank goodness, we’ve had two deaths in three years, but injuries do occur," he says.

When I ask whether he is satisfied with the current level of security, the Minister replies in the affirmative, although he is quick to add that there is always room for improvement. My next question concerns the use of firearms and whether the officers are given any special training before being armed. Every member of the corps, it appears, is given training as part of the basic course which is run at the police academy. And are the firearms given proper maintenance? The Minister’s reply is a diplomatic one.

"I do not have any information to the contrary. I do not personally go around inspecting every single weapon at the police stations."

A recent happening within the ministry that has given rise to controversy is the appointment of Neville Aquilina as prisons manager. Many have taken the view that his having previously held the post of inspector within the corps – and naturally led a number of police prosecutions as part of the job – gives rise to a conflict of interest with his present post. I put forth these observations to Dr Borg.

"Every government faces a problem when it comes to appointing a prison director or manager. It is a tough job and there are numerous other posts that pay equally well and do not give half the hassle. And it must be noted that even the Labour administration appointed a former police officer to run the prisons. Back to your question, Mr Aquilina today no longer operates under the authority of the police commissioner. And I’ve never received any complaints from the prison inmates regarding discrimination," the Minister replied.

When I press him on the issue, Dr Borg concedes that technically there can be a conflict of interest but that in practice this has never happened. However, another subject that has not reflected too well on the corps is that of illegal immigrants and the recent allegations made by Maltese-married Tunisian Zina Grima – even on Italian television – about police involvement in the racket. What are the Minister’s reactions to the allegations?

"It is interesting to note that the Italian government has never requested the extradition of any Maltese officer or even the issue of an arrest warrant. And of course, she’s never mentioned anyone specific in her allegation. I did order an internal inquiry, but since she never bothered to mention names, we never had any specific pointers. One has to remember that this woman was involved in the racket herself and was moreover refused Maltese citizenship on the grounds that her marriage was so obviously one of convenience. Naturally we gave the Italian government full co-operation in the investigations."

The Minister adds that it is his government that has increased the penalty of human trafficking to one of five years imprisonment. I ask him whether other measures are being taken to prevent immigrants from landing in Malta in the first place, rather than limiting ourselves to punishing the perpetrators after the event. Dr Borg answers that Malta faces the same problems as the rest of the Mediterranean countries and that while blocking entry via the air was possible, manning the entire coast was not.

"We do everything in our power to stop illegal entry. Between 2,000 and 3,000 people are refused at the entry point every year. But if they are in our waters, how do we refuse them entry? By shooting or drowning them? The only solution is to arrest them and send them back to their country – at considerable expense to Malta, I must add – unless they prove that they are political refugees. While they are here, we do not allow illegal immigrants free movement or working permits, so that Malta does not appear attractive. What more can we do?"

Bearing in mind the recent addition of all matters related to environment enforcement to Dr Borg’s portfolio, I ask him what is being done to improve the situation. Dr Borg replies that he has already had meetings with several NGOs such as Birdlife in order to identify the priorities. Something of a minor miracle, he points out that the latest hunting regulations have found approval even from the opposition.

"The criticism that the environment has no responsible ministry is untrue. There was a time under the Labour administration when it was the Minister for Foreign Affairs who was responsible for all matters related to the environment – not just enforcement, as is the case with me now, mind you – so this particular criticism is definitely misplaced," was the Minister’s reply.

Before I leave, I pose the million dollar question that is on everyone’s lips: what on earth happened to breathalyser tests after the furore with which they were launched? They are still very much there, it appears, although we do not get to hear about them any more.

"The figures are pretty much the same as they were at the beginning," Dr Borg says. "Aside from the first month, of course, when there was understandable an enthusiastic beginning. But tests are still being administered, although it’s good to remind everyone that there has to be a suspicion that the subject is actually drunk. You don’t just sit outside a wedding hall and breathalyse everyone who comes out. But if someone’s crashed, or is driving dangerously, then the suspicion is definitely justified," Dr Borg concludes.