‘No mention of abuse in emails’ says PN secretary-general

An email sent to PN secretary-general Chris Said in 2014 by a disgruntled contractor demanding payment for private work done ‘for votes’ contained no mention of abuse, according to Said himself in comments to The Times.

The May 2014 email, sent by Joe Cauchi and published by MaltaToday, details the works the contractor had completed, including private roads, garages, excavation works and the construction of a reservoir. The works were commissioned by the construction department in the Gozo ministry, which was at the time run by Nationalist minister Giovanna Debono’s husband, Anthony.

Said explained that he had requested a meeting with Cauchi after receiving the email, during which Cauchi asked Said to speak to the mayor of Gharb about payment for works done in that locality. The mayor however said that there were no pending payments due to the contractor. There were no further requests for intervention from Cauchi and Said suggested he seek legal advice.

During his meeting with Cauchi, Said says, the contractor informed him that he was in touch with minister for Gozo Anton Refalo, who was in turn dealing with the issue. 

Beyond that, Said maintains, he did not know the Cauchi was the one making the allegations of abuse, having only found out about them when MaltaToday published emails sent to PN Whip David Agius.

Said insisted that the email from Cauchi contained no mention of abuse and, when asked why party leader Simon Busuttil had not been informed on the contents of the email, said that there was ‘no further action’ he could take. “I have nothing to hide,” he said. The email, by Busuttil’s own admission, was brought to his attention only last week, via the media.