Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/514194
2 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 20 MAY 2015 News Disagreement on auditor's report leads to suspension of PAC hearing PAC sitting postponed after minister Edward Zammit Lewis asks for ruling over terms of reference of auditor report on contracts awarded by ARMS Ltd to General Workers Union FORMER finance minister To- nio Fenech's appearance in front of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) scheduled for yesterday evening was postponed following a rowdy committee meeting which led to Minister for Tourism Edward Zammit Lewis calling for a ruling. The committee meeting was suspended after a heated ex- change between Zammit Lewis and opposition MP Francis Zam- mit Dimech. While PAC members waited for the meeting to start, the MPs rushed to the plenary after learning that Zammit Lewis stormed out of the meeting to present a point of order. Addressing the Chamber, Zam- mit Lewis said the Auditor Gen- eral had been asked by the Oppo- sition to investigate the contracts awarded by ARMS Ltd to General Workers Union. The minister said that according to practice, the terms of reference passed on to the NAO, were usually agreed to by MPs sitting on the committee. Zammit Lewis said the govern- ment had expressed reserves over the terms of reference but the PAC chairman, Tonio Fenech, had "re- fused to listen to the government's reasoning". He added that "no one will roll over me or the govern- ment". He added that he had wanted to ask the Speaker whether the res- ervations expressed by the gov- ernment were legitimate or not, "but I was rudely interrupted by the chairman who shut off the meeting". Addressing the plenary, the tourism minister went on to pro- vide the Speaker with a copy of the terms of reference which the Op- position had given to the Auditor General. One of the terms of refer- ence asks the NAO to investigate whether the contract between the government and the GWU had been breached. According to Zammit Lewis, while he had no opposition to the NAO investigat- ing the contracts, it was unheard of to ask the National Audit Office to determine a civil right. "Even worse is asking the NAO to see whether other leases by the GWU to third parties were in breach of the contract. My objec- tion is that this is something that should be decided by the courts and not the NAO," he said. Reacting, PAC chairman Tonio Fenech said that at the start of the meeting no one had objected to the minutes of the previous meet- ing. Indeed, Zammit Lewis's ob- jections were raised at the end of the meeting before it adjourned to the next sitting. A heated exchange ensued be- tween Zammit Lewis and Fenech as the tourism minister objected to Fenech's explanation of what went on in the meeting. The two then turned on the Speaker ask- ing him to follow a recording of the meeting, to which the Speaker nodded in approval. Fenech added that the PAC shouldn't be reduced to "an in- strumental tool in government's hands" which he added was "scan- dalous". The former finance min- ister said he followed the proce- dure to the letter, having "learnt" from past mistakes. "With no shame, the govern- ment is telling the NAO how to interpret the law. The Auditor General himself had limited the terms of reference; and the NAO is not asking for PAC's direction. The NAO is not answerable to the Public Accounts Committee. "It is shameful that the govern- ment repeatedly uses its majority to try and influence the NAO's work," Fenech said. Zammit Lewis said he never requested a vote on the remit of the NAO, reiterating that all he wanted was the Speaker's ruling to confirm or deny the minister's concerns. Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said the government was asking the Speaker to investigate the procedural manner by which the PAC this evening had been con- ducted and to investigate how a correspondence between the PAC members had been "leaked" to the media, MaltaToday included. Fenech went on to accuse the government of rendering the PAC a puppet in its hands, "repeatedly make us of its majority vote". The heated debate in the House of Representatives continued as speakers from both sides of the House had their say over the terms of reference that should be passed on to the NAO. Speaker Anglu Farrugia said he would analyse the issue and come back with a ruling, before adjourning the plenary session to Wednesday evening. Fenech's PAC hearing was adjourned to Monday. Muscat springs to CHOGM taskforce head's defence: 'I'm proud of what she's doing' MIRIAM DALLI PRIME Minister Joseph Muscat sprung to Phyllis Muscat's defence, head of the CHOGM taskforce, and expressed frustration over the "su- periority complex" that existed over appointments of individuals. Muscat was reacting to a parlia- mentary question by PN MP Jason Azzopardi who asked the Prime Minister whether entrepreneur Phyllis Muscat was as capable for the post as former ambassador Salv J Stellini had been. Stellini was ap- pointed head of CHOGM taskforce in 2005. "I can't stand this superiority complex that, to be able to do some- thing, you have to be close to the PN or be part of some elitist group or be a man. I am proud to have chosen Phyllis Muscat and of having placed the responsibility in her hands. I am proud of what she's doing," Muscat said. He added that in the past, the gov- ernment used to appoint diplomats to head the taskforce and then en- gage logistics experts: "I preferred engaging a manager with diplomats to her side." Phyllis Muscat has a basic pay amounting to €40,251.12 p.a. with an allowance of €8,000 p.a. and a car allowance of €4,658.74 p.a. Her mobile allowance amounts to up to a maximum of €815 p.a. ETC CEO According to the information ta- bled in parliament by Education Minister Evarist Bartolo, in reply to a separate question by Azzopardi, ETC CEO Philip Rizzo had an an- nual salary of €46,000 with a 15% performance bonus. He is entitled to an annual €3,000 expense allow- ance and an annual home phone al- lowance of €1,440. Rizzo is entitled to free internet service and a smartphone, a distur- bance allowance of up to 5% of his annual salary, a fully-expensed car 24/7 and a personal foreign health insurance cover 24/7. Rizzo was appointed to the post on a position of trust basis. Bartolo, while refusing to table a copy of Rizzo's contract, said he would con- fidentially show Azzopardi a copy of the contract. IPSL CEO In a separate reply to Azzopardi, Muscat said the chief executive of the Industrial Project and Services Limited was entitled to an annual salary of €35,817; a transport allow- ance of €4,658.75 and an expense allowance of €1,630.56. Phyllis Muscat Opposition says PBS 'controlled' by Labour Nationalist MP Clyde Puli says that PBS has become the 'government's weapon' as it omits news stories that might paint it in a negative light MARTINA BORG CLYDE Puli, the Nationalist Party spokesperson for Communication and Consumer Rights, accused the Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) of being under the control of individuals who have a person- al agenda to promote the Labour Party in government. "PBS chose to censor Labour MP Marlene Farrugia, who spoke out against the government's plans to build the American University of Malta at Zonqor point in Mar- saskala, an out-of-development- zone," Puli said, pointing out that independent media, including MaltaToday and Times of Malta, had all reported the matter exten- sively. The latter was the latest in a se- ries of events that had led the PN to criticise PBS for its refusal to cover certain news items. "This is a clear sign that PBS has now become the government's weapon," he told a news confer- ence. Puli reiterated that Farrugia had made some comments about the government, both in reference to the ODZ site and in general, about the way the Labour Party is run- ning the country. Referring to Farrugia's com- ments on the Labour leadership, Puli said that the government was acting as a result of the various duties it has undertaken and that it was working to serve the finan- cially well off rather than families who were hard-up. Puli also questioned why PBS had not reported a comment by Kurt Farrugia, spokesman of the Office of the Prime Minister, about PN leader Simon Busuttil. "It is now common knowledge that Farrugia and PBS head of news Reno Bugeja are continu- ously in contact," Puli alleged, questioning why Bugeja refused to report his comment in this par- ticular issue. He said that PBS had already shown its partiality in its report- ing of the Anton Refalo case, and that the subtle manipulation is of- ten used to pass a pro-PL stance. "This is not just harmful to the PN, but it is above all detrimental to democracy as it makes use of soft power and remains silent on issues that paint the Labour Party in a negative light," Puli said. Clyde Puli