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Matthew Vella
A dreary three-hour long meeting on Wednesday saw St Paul’s Bay councillors make a feeble attempt at addressing their council’s financial shortcomings identified by the National Audit Office, after the Nationalist majority unsurprisingly endorsed their mayor’s official response to the audit of the council’s six-figure finances.
Glossing over ten items of unorthodox practices, brawny mayor Paul Bugeja successfully led a dreary dissection of the report by MGI Malta auditors, as other councillors grappled with figures and the enigmas of the double-entry system.
Under the watchful eye of a rolling Super One camera that filmed the entire sitting, St Paul’s Bay council – minus the three Labour councillors – Paul Bugeja’s official reaction explaining how he had been unjustly attacked by the media and that auditors had reached their misleading conclusions without meeting the mayor himself.
Labour minority leader Alfred Grima was expectedly unhappy with the statement. “I’m not happy because the council says it is taking note of all suggestions, but for the sake of transparency, I think we need to delve further into where these shortcomings come from. It’s as if we are back to square one.”
With some Lm78,000 in services not covered by fiscal receipts, the alleged use of a hired car for the mayor alone, and uncertified works, little was said by Bugeja’s PN colleagues as he fended off criticism by Labour councillors.
Deputy mayor John Bray, who had told MaltaToday the audit was “serious”, denied having told the newspaper that Bugeja was the sole user of a vehicle hired on weekends and public holidays for Lm2,700 annually, a practice MGI said breached regulations forbidding councillors from making private use of council assets.
Labour councillors smiled knowingly, retorting he had swung onto Bugeja’s side as Bray commented for the first time in two hours over the media reports.
Bugeja’s written response, crafted in the council’s name, explained a tender had been issued for the hire of a car for which only one bid was received. He defended the use of the car on weekends saying the council opens on weekends, and that as mayor he was appointed seven days a week, justifying his weekend appointments with the council car.
“The car is used by council staff and councillors for the sole purpose of carrying out their official duties and the allegation of infringement of financial procedures and the fringe benefits regulations are completely incorrect.”
Of the more serious shortcomings, Bugeja claimed the council had managed to recoup all Lm78,000 in fiscal receipts since MGI Malta first issued its audit in March, save for three receipts: two from the band and football clubs, and another from a dead man.
“If a car is being used to go to work from home and back, it has a private use and should be declared as a fringe benefit,” Labour councillor Alfred Grima said. “As for the VAT receipts, I cannot understand how the mayor should be happy about collecting these after being pointed out in the audit report, when I repeatedly asked for clarifications on this matter before the audit was carried out, and was told that everything was being taken care of.”
However the mayor provided sparing explanations on why engineer Robert Sant, none other than Transport Minister Jesmond Mugliett’s partner in the Sant & Mugliett architects firm, had not provided authentic certification of works carried on roads. Bugeja simply said the auditors’ comments would be passed over to their contract manager.
Another case is the provision of health insurance for former executive secretary Hector Cassola, who today appears ‘employed’ with the council as deputy executive secretary. Auditors have questioned why a man who is not paid by the council should be given health insurance.
The rest of the MGI audit delivered a list of accounting incongruities, namely some Lm43,000 in post-dated cheques, which auditor Franco Azzopardi called ‘window dressing’ – the council issues cheque only on the first of the month when a schedule of payments is approved.
Elsewhere auditors pointed out problems with contracts for the provision of street cleaning, skips, water supplies, refuse collection and computer repairs. “I understand that in some instances, such as the provision of a bulky refuse service, these are essential for the community,” Labour councillor Alfred Grima told MaltaToday. “But we cannot keep on breaking the law by not issuing a tender on such a service. This and other shortcomings have to be addressed”
matthew@newsworksltd.com
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