Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/352862
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 27 JULY 2014 News 9 burial. In a joint statement, the Home Affairs Ministry and the parliamentary secretary for health said the process took time to be completed due to a number of tests that had to be carried out on every cadaver, most of them in an advanced stage of decomposition. Their release was ordered after the Italian judicial authorities were con- sulted. MaltaToday is informed that the Italian authorities have also re- quested to see details of the autopsy, but are "more interested" in the fishing boat that was towed to Malta, carry- ing the migrants' bodies trapped in its lower deck. Five migrants who were on the same fishing boat were arrested by the Ital- ian authorities on suspicion that they stabbed over 100 migrants packed into the small fishing vessel to then throw them overboard. The cause of death of the 29 migrants has been listed as drowning following a stampede that is believed to have been caused during the transfer of migrants from the ship to a merchant vessel. Panic broke out on the lower deck as fumes from the engine made it hard for passengers to breathe. Fighting broke out as those trapped below struggled to get out for fresh air. The bodies were recovered from the boat's lower deck. Autopsies carried out by Maltese fo- rensic experts showed that the 29 mi- grants died after drowning in the boat's lower deck, the bodies carried no signs of stabbing. The delays in burying the bodies led to an unbearable situation at Mater Dei's mortuary, with workers report- ing an unbearable stench rising from the heavily decomposed bodies. The situation forced four dissectors working at the mortuary to go out on leave: three went out on sick leave, one was already out on leave and a fifth re- ported for work but will stick to office work. The mortuary can take up to 18 bod- ies in a fridge; the rest were placed in a cold room ready for burial. The bod- ies were not in a freezer, meaning that the decomposing process had been only slowed, but not stalled. It is understood that the situation is slowly returning to normal now that the bodies have been released for burial. Government doesn't want to reveal €400,000 spend on Calleja concert migrants' bodies released for burial MATTHEW VELLA JOSEPH Calleja's powerful cel- ebration of song is now not just Malta's major date on the cultural calendar – thanks to the govern- ment's decision to turn the tenor's annual event into a free, public concert, Calleja & Friends now ri- vals the big names on the annual Isle of MTV stage and is starting to attract great media attention from across Europe. So why is the government so se- cretive about the €402,500 (VAT included) of taxpayer money which gives the public open access to the joys of Calleja's music? Earlier this week, the Office of the Prime Minister blocked Mal- taToday's request to the tourism ministry to explain what items fall under the €2 million allocated for 'tourism related events' in its budget vote. Although this newspaper made no reference to the Calleja concert, the tourism ministry's spokesper- son forwarded the request to give a breakdown of this particular line item to the OPM, which is the cen- tral nervous system for most media requests. The cordial telephone conversa- tion with the OPM staffer that fol- lowed was straight out of the spin doctors' playbook: why was the information required; why should it even be made public; and why should the government explain an arrangement that involves foreign artistes like Claudio Baglioni… Forget the taxpayers' right to know. Forget the fact that ministers have in the past answered similar questions in parliament giving a breakdown of budgetary line items. In the subsequent, less cordial ex- change of SMSs, it was made clear to MaltaToday that the ministry of tourism would be directed to refuse the request. The answer echoed a previous one given out to the media in 2013: "I can confirm that there exist con- tractual obligations with regard to the disclosure of financials… Our partners in these events deal with a number of other territories and any disclosure of financial agreements could compromise negotiations they might be having with other parties, exposing the government to legal complications and allegations of breach of contract" – the tourism ministry replied. The €400,000 to €500,000 sum dished out by the Muscat admin- istration for NnG Promotions – Calleja's management – to open up the tenor's annual concert to the public's free admission, is an open secret. It's been a popular decision for the 25,000 persons who attended the concert, but the government remains tight-lipped about the cash paid. And this despite the fact that Malta Tourism Authority chairman Gavin Gulia declared that most of the MTA's €500,000 losses in 2013 were costs which had "not been budgeted for" and the result of commitments made by the agreement with NnG Promotions and the finance min- istry. According to Gulia, the funds the ministry had pledged to com- pensate were not forthcoming and, subsequently, the authority ended the year with a higher deficit. Notwithstanding Gulia's gripes, taxpayers should be allowed to un- derstand the cost of good decision- making. By admission of the OPM and the tourism ministry, the gov- ernment wants to give the public free access to Calleja's seductive music, but not free access to know how it spends their cash. Muscat administration keen to keep one of its most popular decisions a secret V a c a n c y : R e s e a r c h a n d I n n o v a t i o n A u d i t o r The Malta Council for Science and Technology requires the services of a full-time R&I Auditor to audit R&I projects. The selected candidate will monitor a number of assigned projects to ensure compliance with nancial regulations of the funding source and relevant grant agreements. The ideal candidate should be in possession of ACCA or a recognised appropriate MQF 6 comparable qualication in nance and/or accounting, and a minimum of four years relevant work experience in auditing. Good knowledge and administration of EU projects and R&I projects will be considered an asset. Applications including a Europass C.V. will be received until Thursday 7th August 2014 and should be addressed to christine.m.grixti@gov.mt ETC Permit No. 111/2014 The Malta Council For Science And Technology, Villa Bighi, Kalkara KKR 1320, Malta www.mcst.gov.mt R and I Auditor.indd 2 21/07/2014 08:58:05 Disclosing financial arrangements 'could expose government to allegations of breach of contract' Maestro Calleja: Malta's hottest ticket