Union questions ITS appointment for former education permanent secretary

A former permanent secretary sacked from his job after green-lighting an abusive €15,000 contract to his minister’s partner, has been appointed general manager at the Institute of Tourism Studies.

The teachers’ union Union of Professional Educators has questioned as to how Dr Frank Fabri, former permanent secretary at the ministry for education, had been placed at the ITS training school.

Fabri resigned as permanent secretary, weeks after former minister Justyne Caruana stepped down from Cabinet as a result of an ethics probe in 2021. A Standards Commissioner investigation found that Caruana breached ethics when she awarded a €15,000 contract to her close friend, Daniel Bogdanovic, for a job he was unable to do. Fabri was indicted in the report because he signed off on the contract.

The report also recommended a criminal investigation.

Caruana resigned in December and is now challenging the Standard Commissioner’s report in court.

UPE head Graham Sansone took to task tourism minister Clayton Bartolo over the appointment.

“Bartolo appears to have been blissfully unaware or totally disregarded the allegations surrounding Frank Fabri. While educators have praised the current administration at the Ministry of Education for listening to the pleas of its employees, things have now taken a somewhat bizarre twist,” Sansone said.

“It is the interest of the public and Union members to be informed about this appointment. Was there a formal call of application for the position  of ITS General Manager? Or was Frank Fabri the anointed and handpicked candidate for the position? Has the Public Service Commission (PSC) investigated the allegations that had been made? If so, has it published its findings? If not, why not?

“In politics, transparency is a rare commodity. Frank Fabri’s appointment raises suspicions on many levels. ITS employees are not in the public service but are in the public sector. The PSC would not be able to intervene in any future investigations. It is now the minister’s responsibility to explain the cloud of suspicion that has descended on ITS.”