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Karl Schembri
The Malta Transport Authority has spent more than Lm1,000 on overtime worked between October and December because of a decision not to appoint an Acting Senior Enforcement Officer,
MaltaToday has learned.
The temporary vacancy arose when one of the existing three senior enforcement officers was on long leave.
The authority had initially issued a call for applications so that enforcement officers could take up the post and take charge of one of its three shifts, but on 23 November it sent a circular stating that the selection process was being discontinued without specifying the reasons why. Instead, the authority called in the two senior enforcement officers to work overtime, raising the wage bill by at least Lm40 a day when the temporary appointment would have cost around the same amount extra per month.
The incident irked several authority employees who had applied for the post, generating speculation about the possible reasons behind the mysterious decision at a time when government was cutting costs across the board.
The workers were even more incensed when they learned that one of the senior officers being paid for overtime was also taking leave on his original shift, giving the ultimate proof that the whole exercise was futile.
Questions sent to the authority more than two weeks ago remained unanswered.
An authority spokesperson said the questions were on the chairman’s desk more than a week ago but no answers were forthcoming.
It is also unclear whether Transport Minister Jesmond Mugliett approved of such spending.
karl@newsworksltd.com
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