Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/544403
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 22 JULY 2015 3 News Contract conditions 'incredulous' – Fenech Adami CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 But Fenech Adami said that Cardona and Mus- cat's reactions in Parliament were very telling and only four hours later did Cardona publish the con- tract. "Cardona should have said that he has a contract in Parliament and declared that he would be publish- ing it later. At no time did he say that he has a contract. The publication of the contract only compounds the doubts. If the Prime Minister believes this then he would fall for everything," Fenech Adami said. The PN deputy leader pointed out that the contract is not credible be- cause it is formulated in a "strange" manner and omits many standard clauses. "It's done amateurishly and has a lack of details of who are the les- see and the lessor," he said, adding that the contract does not include safeguards which protect the own- er's rights in case the contract is breached. "I have never seen a clause in a rental contract which says that the agreement is valid for 10 months and the payment should be af- fected at the end of the contract and not one month in advance or at most one month later as is standard practice." "Incredibly," Fenech Adami said, "Cardona is required to pay his dues five days before the contract expires. Normally contracts in- clude clauses which give the right to the owner to take action if dues are unpaid. Moreover, there is no clear indication for the car space reserved for the minister and the contract makes no mention of an inventory or a deposit," he said. Opposition MP Claudio Grech al- so called on the Prime Minister to ensure that the economy minister, which he described as the "front end" of Malta's economy, is free of controversy. Noting that the Cabinet of min- ister's code of ethics also makes reference to perceived conflicts of interest, Grech said the air could only be cleared by Cardona and the Prime Minister. Fenech Adami added: "As a min- ister you cannot just hang around in shady environments. There's nothing wrong in going to a bar but hanging around from 3pm to mid- night in a bar allegedly frequented by criminals and were drugs are consumed is a different story." Asked whether he was using his parliamentary privilege to take on the allegations made by Caruana Galizia in her blog without verify- ing them, Fenech Adami said that he was only asking the Prime Min- ister to verify the accusations and clarify matters. Government reaction In a statement, the government said economy minister Chris Car- dona would stay focused on his work as minister to attract invest- ment to Malta, and accused Beppe Fenech Adami of repeating allega- tions made by Malta Independent columnist Daphne Caruana Gal- izia. "These allegations were denied and the contract of rent was also published, effectively putting paid to all senseless speculation being made. Simon Busuttil's Opposition has now formalised its association between the PN and Caruana Gal- izia." Economy minister Chris Cardona said he is focused on his work to attract investment to Malta SARAH CAMILLERI DAVIDE TUCCI CARLOS FARRUGIA PJAZZA D'ARMI, FORT ST. ELMO, VALLETTA 22, 24, 25, 26, 29, 31 July, 1 u 2 August 9NHPJYX9JFYWZ2FSTJQ'T]4KąHJTW www.teatrumanoel.com.mt IMMANUEL MIFSUD WRITTEN BY MARIO PHILIP AZZOPARDI STORY BY DOMINIC GALEA MUSIC BY JOSETTE CIAPPARA DIRECTED BY LAST FEW TICKETS Minister denounces MP's 'ferocious attack against MCAST's integrity' TIM DIACONO MCAST possesses the necessary internal structures to self-accredit its own Masters courses, education minister Evarist Bartolo insisted. Addressing a press conference at MCAST, Bartolo dismissed allega- tions to the contrary by Opposition MP George Pullicino as "an un- founded and uncalled for ferocious attack against MCAST's integrity". "If Pullicino had been properly informed, he'd have known that the National Commission for Fur- ther and Higher Education (NCF- HE) granted MCAST the status of a self-accrediting institution in 2012, shortly before the general election," Bartolo said, recounting how the then Labour Opposition had agreed with the proposal. A legal notice published in May allows MCAST to offer courses up to Level 7 (Masters' degrees, Post- graduate degrees and Postgraduate certificates), whereas it had previ- ously only been deemed fit to offer courses up to Level 6 (Bachelor's degrees). That same legal notice has gained notoriety amongst the Opposition benches for having lowered the standards required for educational institutions to get rec- ognized as universities. Speaking in Parliament on Mon- day during a debate on whether that legal notice should be revoked, Pullicino questioned whether any studies had been carried out before the government allowed MCAST to offer Level 7 courses. "MCAST will obviously be more credible if its programmes are ac- credited by an independent institu- tion," Pullicino said. "We are not against MCAST's self-accredita- tion at this level, but we must en- sure that the process is carried out with as high a quality as though it were being carried out by a foreign institution." However, Bartolo retorted that the NCFHE recently carried out its first-ever audit of MCAST, the Uni- versity of Malta and the Institute of Tourism Studies, and that MCAST had performed "positively". MCAST Principal Stephen Cachia told MaltaToday that he was convinced that the decision to allow MCAST to start offering Level 7 courses would be justified when the NCFHE publishes its au- dit results. In a response, Pullicino vehe- mently denied attacking MCAST and accused Bartolo of trying to stop the Opposition from asking legitimate questions. "Was the proposal [to allow MCAST to offer Level 7 courses] issued at MCAST's own request?" Pullicino asked. "If this is the case, the minister should table any stud- ies that were carried out on this proposal in Parliament." He questioned whether the NCF- HE had provided any researched recommendations to this proposal, whether Bartolo had verified that MCAST had the necessary struc- tures and academic profile to self- accredit Level 7 programmes, and whether MCAST itself had taken any steps to ensure that they are in the best possible position to self- accredit such programmes. "These are legitimate questions that the Opposition has the right to ask to ensure that MCAST main- tains its level of high quality," Pul- licino said.