‘Labour’ police constables get €30,000 salaries in special postings

Shadow justice minister Jason Azzopardi has flagged a wave of preferential treatment inside the police corp, where police officers close to the Labour Party were being ‘rewarded’ in breach of rules that observe a strict separation between State and party in the police force.

In his winding-up speech, Azzopardi said that a member of the police corps, PC 224 Jason Farrugia, had been for the past 18 months, working in the energy ministry’s private secretariat as head of customer care.

“I’m not criticising the constable but whoever allowed him to take up this post. What does the home affairs minister have to say, or the permanent secretary who apporved this post? Or the Commissioner of Police on this decision taken by former commissioner Peter Paul Zammit? How can we believe you when you say the corps has a problem of manpower when you send officers working elsewhere?”

Azzopardi said the officer’s €17,000 salary had risen to €30,000 annually thanks to the posting.

He also said another police constable, PC Clayton Fiteni, was given a new role inside the Valletta police station to act as a sort of minder for government ministries. “In these last months he was unhappy so he was given a new posting, while still a member of the force, that of chief officer security at the Freeport when he has no experience.”

Azzopardi said Fiteni’s €18,000 salary was doubled to €35,000.

“The government is not much bothered about imperiling the security of the Freeport because this person has neither qualification nor merits... the government is not bothered about unjustly doubling this officer’s salary when the rest of the Corps’ members have not yet had their overtime arrears paid, something promised to them before the 2013 election.”

Azzopardi said that minister Carmelo Abela had not even resolved an impasse with the Malta Police Association over the independence and autonomy of the police force’s top posts, citing an interview Abela gave to MaltaToday back in January in which he said: 'My intention is to arrive at a solution in a couple of weeks’ time. I dont think the situation should drag any longer than that. Hopefully in a couple of weeks we’ll arrive at a solution that suits both sides.'

“It’s been two months since Abela promised action... truly a government whose word means nothing.”