Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1532882
7 ANALYSIS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 2 MARCH 2025 changed accountability standards the President at the time and he stayed on. 'If they mess up… you're equally involved' But Sant also shared his wis- dom on what political respon- sibility means. "A politician in charge is responsible both for what he does and for what those who in his name exercise public service roles of a deci- sional and managerial nature do. If they mess up, he/she is equally involved." While insisting that propor- tionality was required, Sant commented that since 2000 there has been an excessive increase in instances when al- most any failure has been tol- erated or ignored. He warned: "The impact of such an approach is not evi- dent in the short term but it then continues to grow, lead- ing in the end to a significant relaxation of the seriousness, discipline and accountability that the public sector needs to maintain in order to carry out its duties properly." Byron Camilleri has tried to distance himself from the drug heist incident by saying that he was not involved in the ar- rangements to have the sealed container transferred to the ar- my base. In his explanation, the minis- ter said he had been informed by the ministry's permanent secretary a few weeks ago that the Court Services Agency had asked for a container being held at the Freeport with drugs in it be transferred to a prop- erty administered by the Home Affairs Ministry. The transfer was necessary, Camilleri said, because of impending industri- al action at the Freeport. Camilleri added that the per- manent secretary informed him that she was going to speak to the Armed Forces of Malta commander, Brigadier Clinton O'Neil. "From then on I was not up- dated on the outcome of the discussion and any conclusions that may have resulted," the minister said. The next thing he learnt was that 200kg of cannabis resin were stolen from the same con- tainer that was being held on AFM premises. In his statement on the day that the theft was reported to the police, Camilleri tried to wash his hands from the deci- sion as to where the container should be located. "I offered my resignation to the Prime Minister… even if I played no part in the decision, even more so in its implementation, I be- lieve decency required me to do so," Camilleri said. At the same time, the minis- ter instructed his permanent secretary to suspend the ar- my commander pending the outcome of investigations and until "certain facts are estab- lished" as to whether all ade- quate precautions were taken once the army accepted to re- ceive the container. Camilleri later received the backing of his colleagues in government and told journal- ists after a Cabinet meeting he will stay on as minister. Camilleri's responsibility Political accountability was jettisoned out of the window by the minister, the Prime Minis- ter and the rest of Cabinet. But the Robert Abela's imme- diate decision to retain Camill- eri jarred with the summary suspension handed down to the army commander as soon as the heist was discovered. Camilleri's involvement in the affair must be scrutinised. For starters, he should have questioned why a court exhibit was being placed in his respon- sibility, and even more so that of the army. Neither in Camilleri's state- ment, nor in the ministerial statement made by the Prime Minister in parliament was there any indication as to whether the decision to trans- fer the container to the Home Affairs Ministry was chal- lenged from the outset. Nonetheless, once the drugs became his responsibility, Camilleri had a duty to ensure he be kept abreast of develop- ments, something he evidently failed to do. This was no ordinary circum- stance – it involved 200kg of cannabis resin that was a court exhibit; and the responsibility to store the drugs was being tasked to the AFM, something that falls outside its military responsibilities. These should have been reasons enough for the minister to take an active interest in the outcome of the matter. But even if he decided to delegate the matter to his un- derlings – something that is normal and acceptable – he remained ultimately responsi- ble for the decisions taken by the permanent secretary and the Brigadier. In Alfred Sant's words: "If they mess up, he/she is equally involved." And it would seem somebody did mess up when deciding where the container should be placed within army property. A field, wire fence and a public alley Sources close to the army have confirmed with Malta- Today that the container was transported to the AFM's Spe- cial Operations Unit (SOU) base in Ħal Safi. This army property is separated from the Ħal Safi military barracks proper by the airport perimeter road that leads into the village of Ħal Safi. A public alley, used by farm- ers to access their fields, runs along part of the perimeter of the SOU base. A wire fence separates the alley from a field inside the SOU property, where there is a pistol range. The thieves appear to have cut through this fence to gain access to the container from where they hauled the cannabis resin packets to a car that was waiting in the alley. Although the SOU base does have CCTV surveillance, it is unclear whether this covers all areas and whether the contain- er's door was in sight. But several retired army of- ficers have told MaltaToday that the decision to site the container at SOU was a mis- take. "The army has far more se- cure locations than an open field that is separated from a public alleyway by a simple fence," one former senior of- ficer said. "The drugs could have been kept in any of the AFM's armouries, which are secure areas with restricted entry; or they could have been kept at Fort Mosta; or at Luqa barracks, which is far more se- cure than the SOU base." Another former officer asked whether the army carried out a risk analysis of the chosen site to determine its adequacy. "I hope the retired judge who has been appointed to carry out the administrative inquiry addresses all political, security and operational decisions tak- en, including the reason why the Court Services Agency in the first place does not have the capacity to ensure court exhibits are kept in a secure lo- cation," the officer said. Carrying the can Another retired senior officer said it made little sense that the army commander was immedi- ately suspended but Camilleri stayed on. "The politician re- sponsible for the decision to accept the drugs on his min- istry's watch has remained in office while an administrative inquiry is supposed to look into his actions and those of other officials in the ministry, apart from what happened at the AFM. This does not make sense." Camilleri has resisted calls for his resignation. His supporters have been arguing on social media that he is a principled man and should not be made to carry the can for others' fail- ures. Alfred Sant would beg to dif- fer. Political accountability does mean carrying the can for others, even if not all misde- meanours necessitate resigna- tion. However, Byron Camilleri and Robert Abela do not be- lieve the theft of 200kg of can- nabis resin from an army depot is serious enough a matter for the minister to shoulder polit- ical responsibility and resign – or at least suspend himself pending the inquiry. From Charles to Byron, La- bour's standards have truly tanked.