Lm4 million scandal returns to haunt Nationalist government

The shadow of the Auxiliary Workers’ Training (AWT) Scheme scandal has returned to haunt the government. The Lm4 million scheme had been investigated by the three man Commission on Corruption. Initiated in an effort to create employment opportunities in the late eighties, the scheme turned out as an opportunity for spending sprees by some well-known political activists. With individuals cashing in on projects and materials, and work and monies unaccounted for. Many of the people who ran the scheme, today hold senior posts.

MaltaToday has discovered a court case instituted seven years ago by J.R Aquilina the prime whistleblower in the Commission on Corruption probe. The lack of urgency in hearing the case does nothing to diminish the implications of the outcome of this court ruling. Ironically, his court case challenges the Commission’s findings.

The AWT scheme was launched in the 1987 Nationalist administration and was allegedly tainted with political patronage from day one and involved well known Nationalist political activists. Very interestingly, the Commission which investigated the allegations failed to agree on the conclusions and one of its members, Dr Tonio Azzopardi found it necessary to draw up his own minority report.

What is more significant is that the person crucial to the investigation J. R. Aquilina who was appointed specifically by the Prime Minister, Dr Fenech Adami, to head the Employment and Training Corporation (ETC) in 1987, has instituted civil proceedings against the Commission’s findings headed by Dr Albert Camilleri. Dr Camilleri was awarded the Gieh ir-Repubblika after the Commission’s findings!

Although the Commission was informed that most of the files related to the running of the AWTS scheme were literally stolen on election day in 1992, it continued to treat the whole matter as a non-consequential.

Mr Aquilina is reported to have been very concerned by the Commission’s conclusions which were issued some time before the 1996 election which implied that his version of the facts were a set up (montatura). He resigned from the ETC, shocked by the Commission’s findings.

Regardless of the disappearance of crucial records and the unsatisfactory findings, he never gave up.

At the time it was expected that the Commission should have had come to the decision of not reaching any conclusion since all the proof was stolen to the benefit of whoever had an interest in the whole matter.

Mr Aquilina’s court case rests on the legal pretext that what the Commission stated to the House or Representatives and to the public was nothing more than the Chairman’s opinion, countersigned by another member (Dr Testa).

This was confirmed by the contents of a letter that appeared in the Sunday Times of Malta by Dr Tonio Azzopardi, a member of the three man Commission who announced that he had prepared a separate minority report.

If the civil proceedings do overturn the Commission’s finding then it could mean the appointment of a new Commission to look into the matter. If that does happen, it may turn out to be too much of an embarrassment for government and it could reopen the lid to one of the most serious allegations of abuse of power in the last three decades.