Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/611961
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 6 DECEMBER 2015 SAVIOUR BALZAN FORMER Air Malta Commercial Officer Philip Saunders has rub- bished comments by Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis about consultants' earnings at the airline. This week Zammit Lewis said in answer to a parliamentary question that between 2008 and 2013, the payment to consultants amounted to €14.3 million or €2.8 million per year. Zammit Lewis claims that today the cost is €1 million in salaries for senior staff, with savings of €1.8 million. Describing the minister's com- ments as "rubbish", Saunders said he was never employed as a con- sultant but was an employee and that he did not run away from Air Malta. Saunders also called on the min- ister to reveal the pay packages and the selection process of the present management team. But yesterday Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis refused to divulge the salary packages of any of the present chief officers, in- cluding that of the Chief Financial Officer of Air Malta, citing com- mercial sensitivity. In the past weeks, the govern- ment benches have had no qualms revealing the packages of former officers in agencies or corpora- tions. Years back, Tonio Fenech, then minister responsible for Air Mal- ta, was excoriated by the Labour opposition for seeking refuge be- hind commercial secrecy to not reveal the salaries of CEO Peter Davies and Chief Commercial Of- ficer Philip Saunders. Speaking from Kuwait to Mal- taToday, Philip Saunders, who is employed with Kuwait Airways, took umbrage at Zammit Lewis' comments: "As the government is so 'candid', it should indeed re- veal the exact recruitment process employed in terms of the appoint- ment of the current Deputy CCO, CCO, and CFO – and why not, of all senior management since their election – as well as full details of their remuneration packages and benefits." He insisted that Air Malta did not employ full-time consult- ants and the part-time consult- ants' earnings only amounted to €100,000. Saunders, who was on a package of €250,000 a year, told MaltaTo- day: "My remuneration was in line with market rates for the highly challenging and responsible posi- tion I held. This agreement was arrived at after a fair and reason- able negotiation and, as far as I am aware, was approved by the board. Again, is the Minister question- ing the integrity of the previous board?" Clearly irked by Zammit Lewis's comments, Saunders said: "In pre- vious comments, the minister has suggested (by association) that I ran away from Air Malta. This is rubbish. "From early 2015, then Chair- man Ray Fenech and CEO Louis Giordimaina frequently asked me to remain at KM after my con- tract ended and suggested that my terms would be acceptable, and this under the new Labour gov- ernment. "However, I never received a written proposal despite asking. I remained without a formal offer even on the day of my resignation – so how exactly did I run away?" Saunders explained that in 2014 he had advised Louis Giordimai- na, then CEO, on a recruitment process for senior management. He had recommended three inter- nationally renowned recruitment agencies: Spencer Stuart, Zygos and Heidrick & Struggles. "It would be interesting to know whether any of these agencies was used in the minister's much- vaunted selection process." Finally he said that he wished Air Malta every success under the leadership of Maria Micallef and Philip Micallef. And as a final re- mark he added: "I am pleased that the board is confident in meeting the requirements of the Restruc- turing Plan." 6 News 6 News Government steps in to relocate defiant Valletta suq butcher JURGEN BALZAN THE government has this week agreed to relocate the last defiant butcher at the Valletta market, freeing the way for private investors to transform the 150-year-old suq into a high-end food court. The owner of P&J Company Limited, who has been serving customers for over 60 years, resisted all offers made by Arka- dia Co. Ltd who will be investing €7 million on the redevelop- ment of the indoor market. Negotiations between Arkadia – which already runs four supermarkets – and the market retailers began in May of this year and MaltaToday is informed that each shop was bought out for around €80,000. However, P&J Company resisted all offers and the govern- ment had to intervene at the eleventh hour to unblock the impasse. The butcher will in the next few weeks be relocated to a government-owned property a few metres away from the market in Merchants Street. The shops in what had become a quiescent market were on a rolling lease and some of the firms have been operating there for decades. Charles Falzon's family has been serving customers for over 100 years and the Valletta-born and bred butcher is saddened by what he describes as an "end of an era." "I'm definitely not happy with having to leave the market where my father and grandfather sold meat for more than 100 years," Falzon says, surrounded by what remains of the dis- mantled freezers and fridges in what once was his shop. Falzon will be opening a new shop in his own property in Zur- rieq but he says that the compensation received from Arkadia is nowhere close to what is required for a new butcher shop. "Believe me, to open a new shop you need much more than what we were given, especially with the exorbitant costs of the equipment and legal requirements," Falzon said. The original market included 153 stalls, 65 cellars and two underground water cisterns. A wistful Falzon points out that of 10 butchers at the market, only six will remain in the busi- ness. "It's the end of an era. What once was a bustling market has become a desolate space which will now become a high-end food court," he says. Built in the 1860s, the beautiful colonial structure of the suq is now dirty and dilapidated. Falzon points out that the market suffered from complete neglect by successive administrations, with the last tangible investment made in 1989. "In 2002, shop owners had attempted to negotiate a deal which would have seen the market managed by us but the gov- ernment refused to make any investments to ensure that the market is handed over to the retailers in a decent state, offering instead a paltry yearly sum." Under the new plans, the market's lower floor will feature several stalls, including a gourmet bakery, a meat shop, a fish- monger, a greengrocer and a supermarket. The meat shop was not offered to any of the outgoing shop owners and it is understood that Arkadia are demanding 20% of turnover to rent out the shop. The rest of the suq will house restaurants, cafes and bars. Ac- cording to Arkadia general manager Antoine Portelli, the top floor will serve as a multi-function floor ranging from a cafete- ria in the morning to a more cultural and entertainment based space later on during the day. "It's a pity. Markets are the heartbeat of cities and Valletta will be one of the few capitals in Europe to have no real food market," Falzon said. Arkadia were chosen after the government issued an expres- sion of interest last year for the development and restoration of the Victorian structure. In 2008 MEPA listed the market as a Grade 1 building and the new project must be completed by 2017, in time for the celebrations marking Valletta's status as European cultural capital in 2018. The market was the first building in Malta to be construct- ed entirely out of metal and the iron was made at the same foundry which produced the structure used at the celebrated Smithfield meat market, London's only remaining wholesale market in continuous operation since medieval times. Charles Falzon PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD Former Air Malta executive calls for transparency on airline salaries WIN the book To win answer the right question tick the right answer/answers? ❏ Inga Boissevain was Dutch ❏ Inga Boissevain lived in Malta and spoke Maltese ❏ Inga Boissevain was married to Jeremy Boissevain ❏ Inga Boissevain was Swedish ❏ A Maltese Marriage is historical fiction Send your answers by 17 December to: MediaToday, WIN A BOOK FROM Choppy Books, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann The winner of the set of four books by Arturo Caruana Are Bernice Cohen from Kalkara and Sandra Grech from Attard published by Choppy Books A Maltese Marriage Air Malta CFO Klaus Gossler and former Commercial Officer Philip Saunders