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I refer to the article entitled “Cospicua council clerk sacked but not Ghajnsielem’s” published in the MaltaToday of May 15, 2005.
The allegation that “the Director of Local Government is protecting an illegally employed clerk at the Ghajnsielem council” is totally untrue. Moreover, the article also hints that the Director (Local Government) had known about the irregularity for the past five years. It should be clarified that the Director had been notified of the irregular employment of the council clerk in December 2004.
After verifications by the Department, the Director wrote to the council in February 2005 and directed that the Ghajnsielem Council rectify the matter. During that time, the council was undergoing several difficulties due to the fact that a court case had been instituted against it on the merits of the engagement of a council executive secretary.
Thus, the council was faced with a situation that it had no executive secretary and if the clerk had been sacked at the time, the council’s administrative function would have come to a standstill. Although the Director’s directive was still in force, the Department acted with great caution to safeguard the smooth functioning of the council’s administrative operations, including the approval of a deputy executive secretary. This case, therefore, merited caution and good sense so as not to prejudice the functioning of the said council.
The comparison with the Cospicua case, although similar in substance, does not hold, since in the latter case, the report on the irregular employment of the council clerk was made very close to the engagement process in 2000 (and not five years after). The allegation made that the department is using “two weights and two measures” is an erroneous conclusion of the Malta Today and far from the truth.
It is also pertinent to state that the directive issued in February 2005 is still in force and no retraction was ever made by the Director as regards the irregular employment of the council clerk.
The article is furthermore unjust in comparing the actions of the former Minister responsible for Local Councils and the present incumbent, since in the Cospicua case, the Minister intervened when the directive of the former Director proved futile.
It should also be remarked that faced with such a delicate situation, the Department has adopted a prudent attitude throughout. It is, therefore, quite sad to note that, for some unknown reason, such a prudent approach was interpreted as being a collusion to an illegality.
Emanuel Abela
Director of Information
Editorial note:
The Director of Local Government, Natalino Attard, was repeatedly asked for the reasons behind his delayed action against the illegality at Ghajnsielem local council, but the only reply sent to MaltaToday was that he had “no jurisdiction on the employment of local council employees and it is up to any injured party to bring a case against the council if he or she feels aggrieved by any decision taken by the council”. This clearly meant that Attard, and Minister Tonio Borg, had no intention of intervening in this case after the directive. It is only after the illegality is solved that Attard can claim that the “two weights and two measures” attitude is “erroneous”. So far, it is fact.
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