Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/331448
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 18 JUNE 2014 7 Interception warrants not granted without proper justification – minister News MIRIAM DALLI FIFTEEN months after the former Chief Government Medical Officer (CGMO)'s contract expired and two interviews later, a new chief medical officer (CMO) has not yet been ap- pointed, MaltaToday has learnt. The chief medical officer is the government official designated head of medical services and until 2013 the post of CGMO was held by Dr Natasha Muscat Azzopardi. The contract, sources said, is valid for three years after which a new call is issued. While the sources claimed that acting chief medical officer Dr Denis Vella Baldacchino has been occupying the post ever since Mus- cat Azzopardi's contract expired, the parliamentary secretariat for health said the post has been vacat- ed only recently. "Following the introduction of the Health Act, the position of CGMO no longer exists," a spokesperson for the health parliamentary secretariat said when contacted. The position of CGMO was re- structured into two roles, paving the way for a CMO and Director Gen- eral for Health Care Services. The spokesperson said the DG Health Care Services post is currently oc- cupied. "The CMO post is vacant since the person occupying the post recently resigned due to health reasons," the spokesperson said. In this case, however, "a suit- able" CMO has apparently not been found and the sources suspect that the interviewing board's decision may have not enjoyed "the support of persons higher above". Muscat Azzopardi was reportedly offered the post of acting CMO, but she rejected it. Health parliamentary secretary Chris Fearne has confirmed that Muscat Azzopardi is now a consult- ant in public health and forms part of the Health Information and Re- search Unit. Among other things she is cur- rently working on the National Dia- betes Strategy. "She still forms part of our team as a consultant in public health and we are very happy to have her on board," Fearne said. Contacted by MaltaToday, the president of the Medical Associa- tion of Malta (MAM), Martin Bal- zan, confirmed that the post of chief medical officer has not yet been filled. "The choice of who should be ap- pointed CMO lies with the medi- cal board. But we still hope that the person appointed has experience in both health and the administration system," Balzan said. A call for applications was open for the civil service, meaning that everyone could apply. Balzan is however hoping that Muscat Az- zopardi's successor will have the necessary qualities to serve in the health sector's most senior admin- istrator post. "Ultimately it is the board's deci- sion whom to choose and we can- not interfere in that decision," he added. Balzan had words of praise for both Muscat Azzopardi and Vella Baldacchino, saying that MAM had a good relationship with both. "Muscat Azzopardi was hard- working and very capable in her job. She always took the decisions when needed. And even though there were instances when we disagreed with her, we knew she was suitable for the job," he said. Balzan said the same applied for Vella Baldacchino but he was lim- ited in the decisions he could take because he was holding the job in an acting capacity. "This is the same procedure even when a similar request is made by foreign secret service agencies." Mallia said that every warrant is- sued by his ministry, since he was appointed home affairs minister, has to be made on specialised security paper, carrying a signature with its precise date and time. "These war- rants are then registered within a specialised registry, which does not allow a different registry number to be applied to the warrant. Every sin- gle warrant is verifiable through the system," Mallia said. Malta' Security Services also present a report at law on their an- nual activities to the House of Rep- resentatives. Vodafone's difficult balancing act two weeks ago, in which it published an extensive, 40,000-word report on government monitoring, revealed the extent to which private tele- phone and internet transfers of data can be accessed by national security agencies and police forces. Vodafone, the world's second larg- est carrier, said that government agencies were using secret wires to tap its network in many of the 29 countries where it offers a wireless service. In 2013, there were 3,773 war- rants filed by Maltese government agencies for metadata – informa- tion that includes clients' names, addresses, device locations and times of calls and messages. Health care services still waiting for new Chief Medical Officer "The CMO post is vacant since the person occupying the post recently resigned due to health reasons" Mallia said that requests for legal interception have not been backed by a detailed report Mater Dei Hospital