Fenech Farrugia: I was not responsible for IAID, internal inquiry shortcomings

The suspended director of fisheries, Andreina Fenech Farrugia, has issued another statement protesting her innocence on allegations about her relationship with tuna ranching giant Fuentes, of Spain.

Fenech Farrugia, who has refused to explain why she used a Spanish telephone line paid by the Fuentes company when speaking to José Fuentes Garcia, refuted suggestions of wrongdoing when an internal inquiry carried out in 2017 found personnel with family relations to a manager from the Fuentes subsidiary company in Malta.

“As far as I know, the inquiry did not concern me directly, but the directorate for aquaculture which was not directly under me; and no shortcomings on my part were found,” Fenech Farrugia said.

The director of fisheries has been suspended since excerpts of telephone interceptions by Spanish police were published in the press, in which she is heard telling Fuentes Garcia that ‘he has to pay her’.

“The payments by operators to the director-general of fisheries, that is me, can be easily verified… I categorically deny having requested any money for myself personally, and the allegations of bribery are totally unfounded,” she said.

Fenech Farrugia referred to statements by Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi, who released a confidential inquiry by the IAID carried out in 2010, clarifying that the inquiry was unrelated to her personal file – Fenech Farrugia had been transferred to the competition authority at the time of the IAID inquiry, before being reinstated to the department of fisheries and promoted to director-general in 2013.

“What that report shows is that the shortcomings identified were down to the acute shortage in human resources, and not due to me personally. Obviously, adequate procedures depend on adequate resources,” she said.

Fenech Farrugia insisted that she had no control over shortcomings committed by tuna ranchers, and that she always tried to address problems to the fullest of her powers. “The IAID report led to an action plan in 2010 which demanded an increase in human resources, which is why the situation improved within two years – demands which I myself had made.”

Fenech Farrugia also said her appointment to fisheries director-general came after a public and transparent selection process, and that she had requested the IAID to carry out a follow-up audit.

“The DG MARE audits are carried out annually, and indeed throughout my headship these audits always communicated their satisfaction with the operation.

“As the sector continued to grow and with the department finding it hard to recruit human resources to match this growth, as noted by the NAO audit, I was running a department staffed by 65 workers. I did my utmost to run the department as best as possible.”