Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/390250
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 1 OCTOBER 2014 7 News DANIEL MIZZI NINE women whose age ranges between 45 and 23 years, were yes- terday charged with loitering for prostitution after police carried out patrols in Marsa and Gzira. The court heard that on Sunday, between 8:30pm and midnight, police carried out several patrols in places notorious for prostitu- tion. Upon arriving, the police warned the women to get off the streets, with most found to be in possession of condoms and cash. Despite the warnings, nine wom- en – whom the police know to be prostitutes, the court heard – stayed on the streets and were sub- sequently arrested after they were seen loitering for prostitution. In the first arraignment, Anne Maria Bonello, 39, of Valletta, was jailed for two months after she was found guilty of loitering in Marsa, and of breaching a probation order and relapsing. Prosecuting inspector Joseph Bu- suttil told the court that on Sun- day, Bonello – who has 47 previ- ous convictions for loitering – was spotted loitering. An hour after police told her to leave, the ac- cused was still there with a friend, and was consequently arrested. In separate arraignments, Magis- trate Charmaine Galea condition- ally discharged Ritienne Cardona, 42, of Floriana, and Mary Louise Magro, 28, of Gzira, for six months after they were found guilty of loi- tering in Marsa and Gzira respec- tively. The prosecution explained that on Sunday, at about 8:30pm po- lice spotted Cardona loitering in Marsa and told her to go to her apartment. An hour later, police returned to find her still in Xatt il-Moll in Marsa, where she was arrested. A search in the woman's handbag yielded three packets of condoms and around €50 in cash. Moreover, the police found an empty room with a mattress and four candles in Cardona's apartment. Asked why she had been prosti- tuting herself, Cardona said she did so to earn a living. Asked whether she planned to stop, she retorted that "debts have to be paid ". In the case of Marie-Louise Ma- gro, the accused insisted that she no longer prostituted herself, while her law yer, Franco Debono, insist- ed that his client was only walk- ing down Testaferrata Street, and despite wearing a short blue dress, she was not indecently dressed or doing anything to attract men. Notwithstanding the defence's plea, the court found Magro guilty of the charges and conditionally discharged her for six months. Similarly, Diane Celeste, 42, of Hamrun, was conditionally dis- charged for a year after admitting to loitering in Marsa and relaps- ing. Moreover, Josette Galea, 24, of Floriana was also found guilty of the charges, and was placed un- der a probation period for three years. Standing before the court, 25- year-old April Farrugia, who has a nine-year-old child, admitted to loitering in Marsa, and asked the court to help her enter a drug rehabilitation programme. The magistrate ordered that a pre-sen- tencing report be drawn up and granted her bail against a personal guarantee of €3,000. Meanwhile, Joyce Bugeja, 45, of San Gwann – who, the court heard, has been involved in pros- titution for 23 years – was charged with loitering in Gzira after she was spotted sitting on a doorstep of an apartment block in Testafer- rata Street. She was acquitted for insufficient evidence. Similarly. Judith Bakoush, 23, of Valletta, who is pregnant, was also acquitted of loitering in Marsa due to lack of evidence, while Gianella Okeakpci, 26, of St Paul's Bay was remanded in custody after plead- ing not guilty to loitering in Gzira, to resisting arrest, relapsing and to committing a crime during the operative period of a suspended sentence. Inspectors Joseph Busuttil and Sylvana Briffa prosecuted. Law yers Franco Debono, Mario Camilleri and Renzo Porsella Flores were defence counsel. MIRIAM DALLI A board of inquiry tasked with in- vestigating the causes into the fi- asco and the subsequent delayed opening of SkolaSajf and Klabb 3-16 as the direct result of a lack of ad- ministrative responsibility by both the Foundation for Educational Services (FES) and the Directorate for Educational Services (DES). Headed by stockbroker Paul Bonel- lo, the inquiry found the position of Roderick Agius, as CEO of the FES, "no longer tenable" as he has now "lost all moral authority with staff and stakeholders". The inquiry however notes that, while Agius should shoulder the main responsibility for what hap- pened, "Agius should not be singled out" as the only one responsible for this "administrative disaster". "The whole board of the FES must carry the responsibility for the lack of monitoring and oversight in the operations of the foundation," the board of inquiry said, adding that the FES board were too complacent to press Agius further on the mat- ter. According to the Bonello inquiry, Agius "tends to undervalue prob- lems" and the FES board should have been aware of that. Agius reportedly recognised the issue and has already requested to be transferred elsewhere. The board of inquiry also said that some "sort of responsibility" should be shouldered by DES director gen- eral, and "in a lesser grade" the di- rector for student services. A number of FES board members offered their resignations, but the inquiry board pointed out that none of these had a greater responsibility to shoulder when compared to the rest of the members. The Bonello inquiry however pro- posed that the FES board should be reconstituted to allow the presence of senior officials from the Educa- tion Department. This, it argued, would allow better coordination be- tween the FES and DES. A total of 18 persons were ques- tioned by the board. The board had also called to interview Nationalist MP Joe Cassar, party spokesman for education, who however refused the invitation. In an email sent to the board, the former health minister said that the Opposition had already stated what it had to say. "The Opposition notes that politi- cal responsibility falls under Minis- ter Bartolo and therefore we expect the Board to scrutinise the decisions taken by the Minister," Cassar told the inquiry board. The board noted that no judicial or administrative investigation should carry out political assessment. The ministerial decision to trans- fer SkolaSajf under FES, with effect as from summer 2014, was taken in November 2013 and was informally communicated by Joseph Caruana, the Ministry for Education's per- manent secretary, to FES senior ex- ecutive Ruth Baldacchino, the DES director general George Borg and Anna Gilson, service manager. The inquiry determined that the permanent secretary did not prop- erly communicate the decision, fail- ing to specify the responsibilities to be undertaken by the FES and DES. No preparatory work for the roll- ing-out of SkolaSajf and Klabb 3-16 was carried out between December 2013 and April 2014. During the same period, Bald- acchino – assistant to Agius – was out on study leave. It appears that during her study leave, Agius did not follow up on the preparations that should have taken place. The centres' opening was delayed for a number of factors, mainly be- cause the centres were not prepared: heads of school did not know who their coordinators would be; lack of material including academic stuff, printers, cleaning material and first aid equipment; only applications from 19 centres – out of 63 – had been processed. Amid all the confu- sion, approved playworkers started dropping out while it wasn't known which children required learning support assistants. The board of inquiry said that all those interviewed – and who inter- acted directly with FES including the Malta Union of Teachers – at- tributed the responsibility to Agius. An on-site survey had revealed structural weaknesses in the com- position of FES. The report was however shelved by both the FES and the DES. It transpired that while the CEO insisted all along that everything was under control, just two days before the opening he admitted to having "a small problem": lack of 220 playworkers to take care of the children. During the course of its investiga- tion, the board of inquiry noted that Agius's actions had not been mali- cious but the result of lack of train- ing. "Roderick Agius is a man of good intentions but who lacks the neces- sary training and managerial skills to lead a critical and important enti- ty such as the FES," the board said. Agius was appointed CEO in 2008, having spent years as a teacher and a school counsellor. The board of inquiry found that there "existed no doubts" that Ag- ius had underestimated the gravity of the situation, with the end result that he had misled the board. It also flags that passive attitude of the Directorate of Educational Serv- ices within the Ministry. Worsening the situation was the transfer of a key employee who had expressed the wish to go work else- where. The transfer however took place during the most vulnerable and critical moment. Nine women charged with loitering for prostitution in Marsa and Gzira SkolaSajf opening fiasco inquiry finds FES CEO's position 'no longer tenable' The CEO confessed to a "small problem": he was 220 workers short