Marthese Portelli: New Lands CEO should not be Prime Minister’s ‘yes man’

Nationalist MPs express misgivings on possible appointment of James Piscopo as Lands CEO, as Parliament discusses the Authority

Nationalist MPs have reacted in Parliament to a report that Joseph Muscat's close friend, James Piscopo, will be the Lands Authority's new CEO
Nationalist MPs have reacted in Parliament to a report that Joseph Muscat's close friend, James Piscopo, will be the Lands Authority's new CEO

Opposition MPs have reacted to a report in today’s MaltaToday, that James Piscopo - a close friend of the Prime Minister's - is being touted as the new Chief Executive Officer of the Lands Authority, as they maintained that all those with the right experience should be considered for the post.

As Parliament discussed the Lands Authority’s budget estimates, Nationalist MP Marthese Portelli emphasised that the Authority was a very important one with a lot of responsibility and power, and she expected it to ensure that none of its decisions involved the abuse of such power.

“MaltaToday reported that there is a good chance that Piscopo take over the Lands Authority,” she said, “The Lands CEO should not be a ‘yes man’ - he should be a people’s CEO, not the Prime Minister’s CEO. The Authority should be led by the best person to do the job.”

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Transport Minister Ian Borg, under whose remit Lands falls, responded by saying that a public call for applications for the post will be issued next week.

“I encourage any of those who think they are eligible, to apply,” he said, prompting Portelli to remark that she hoped potential applicants will not be discouraged from applying because they think Piscopo has already been chosen for the position.

Backing her argument, fellow Nationalist MP Ryan Callus said that there were people at the Lands Authority who had years of experience and who could occupy the CEO position instead of Piscopo.

“Give the Lands workers a ‘vote of confidence’ in their abilities, and when you choose the new CEO, choose one of them - this will really show that you believe in them,” he told Borg.

He had earlier today said on Twitter that the reported selection of Piscopo was a "sham".

Callus, who is the Opposition’s representative on the Lands Board, also lamented that he had apparently been presented with the finalised Annual Report of the Authority without having had the chance to review it.

“So, in effect, the report was not approved by the Board,” he said, “This is demonstrative of a pattern of doing things at the Authority, where things take place either behind the Board’s back, or behind mine.”

He also proposed that the Lands’ yearly earnings should not go to the government’s consolidated fund, but should be kept by the Authority, in order for it to pay back the debt it had with the people whose land had been taken by previous governments, many of which he maintained were Labour administrations.

Rebutting some of Callus’ arguments, Borg said that the Authority was now more transparent than previously, since any land valued at over €100,000 now was required to have its valuation assessed by three independent architects.

In a similar vein, Labour MP Alex Muscat noted that the Authority - which was set up in April last year, replacing the Lands Department - had increased its efficiency of dealing with backlogged files.

“Files were founds dating back to the 1960s. In the first five months of this year, more files have been processed than in the previous year,” he pointed out.