MaltaToday previous editions

MALTATODAY 24 October 2021

Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1421642

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 2 of 55

3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 OCTOBER 2021 NEWS Opera onal Programme I – European Structural and Investment Funds 2014-2020 "Fostering a compe ve and sustainable economy to meet our challenges" Project part-financed by the Cohesion Fund Co-financing rate: 85% European Union Funds; 15% Na onal Funds Visit www.water.org.mt to find more tips. IF YOU HAVE MANY DISHES AFTER A MEAL, CONSIDER USING A DISHWASHER RATHER THAN WASHING BY HAND. SCRAPE YOUR DISHES BEFORE PUTTING THEM IN. WHEN A DISHWASHER IS FULL IT CONSUMES LESS WATER. AFTER YOUR FESTIVE MEALS WASH ALL YOUR DISHES MORE EFFICIENTLY KURT SANSONE AN independent inquiry will probe how 400 employees of the social welfare foundation ended up with missing pension contri- butions totalling €10 million. The missing national insur- ance contributions go back to the period between 2000 and 2007 but workers only realised now when they started reaching retirement age. The Social Justice Ministry told MaltaToday that it appoint- ed a board for an independent inquiry. The inquiry is led by re- tired judge Antonio Mizzi. No information was given as to who the other board members are. The ministry added that the current chairperson of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services and minister's advis- er, Joe Gerada, has "suspended himself from his duties". Gerada was CEO of FSWS dur- ing the period under scrutiny. Asked whether the ministry has called in the police to inves- tigate the case, a spokesperson said: "At this stage, the ministry will wait for the results of the independent inquiry, while leav- ing all options open." MaltaToday reported a fort- night ago that when the case came to light Gerada informed board members that he had also been a victim of the incident. However, although Gerada had rectified his personal situation upon reaching retirement age, he failed to flag the problem to higher authorities. Gerada had told fellow FSWS board members that his belief was that the NI contributions had been paid but were not credited to the individuals be- cause of some mistake by a pay- roll clerk. The case was revealed by the UĦM's online news bulletin, Voice of the Workers, which highlighted the plight of em- ployees who only recently found out about their missing NI con- tributions. The money had been deducted from their salary but never cred- ited towards their pension. Government has pledged to rectify the situation and the current management at FSWS under CEO Alfred Grixti's helm has told employees none of them will lose out on their pension. In a statement released a cou- ple of weeks ago, the senior management team at FSWS dis- tanced itself from the problems between 2000 and 2007 and ex- pressed "full solidarity" with af- fected employees. Ministry appoints inquiry to probe missing NI payments as social welfare boss suspends himself Inquiry into missing FSWS national insurance payments Suspended: Joe Gerada

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of MaltaToday previous editions - MALTATODAY 24 October 2021