Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/762759
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 14 DECEMBER 2016 News 7 Thursday TVM 20:50 Doctors among Gozo professionals seeking MUMN membership MIRIAM DALLI DOCTORS, technicians and nursing aides working at the Go- zo General Hospital are among some 100 healthcare profession- als seeking to leave their respec- tive unions to join the Malta Un- ion of Midwives and Nurses. MaltaToday is informed that the workers, who are currently represented by the Medical As- sociation of Malta and the UHM – Voice of the Workers, have ap- proached the nurses' union after complaining that the their un- ion was "not representing" their needs. Workers speaking to MaltaTo- day on the condition of anonym- ity complained that they felt "be- trayed" by the MAM and UHM for pushing forward arguments on the privatization of the Gozo hospital, which in their words went beyond the interest of the workers. The two unions have ap- proached the Public Accounts Committee to conduct an in- vestigation into the privatiza- tion deal which the govern- ment signed with Vitals Global Healthcare, granting it a 30-year concession to run the Gozo Gen- eral Hospital, St Luke's Hospital and Karin Grech Hospital. The two unions have raised ques- tions on the owners of VGH, and went on to request the Auditor General to examine the financial aspect of the agreement. However, when asked whether it was in their own interest to ensure the financial stability of the concessionaires, the work- ers argued that they felt that the unions had gone a step too far. They reiterated that their em- ployer would remain the govern- ment, thus they would remain registered as public workers with all the collective agreements and such being respected. Contacted by MaltaToday, MUMN secretary general Colin Galea confirmed that several workers, doctors included, had contacted the union seeking rep- resentation. "We will first hold a meeting with these workers later on this month and then the council will discuss the request and decide accordingly," Galea said. Asked whether it would be pos- sible for the MUMN to represent the doctors, Galea said it was up to the council to decide. He went on to add that an amendment to the statute allows doctors to join the MUMN, as the union's statute was worded to represent healthcare professionals. Galea rubbished claims that the workers' switch may be political- ly motivated: "To have doctors coming to us is already a huge step… a decision which they def- initely did not take lightly." He said that the unions' agree- ment signed with the govern- ment was one to protect the status quo: "Anything which we have today with regard to work- ers' rights will be respected." "I don't want to generalize but when doctors look at the names that will be coming to Malta, and the opening of the Barts Medical School, they know that they, and the patients, will benefit from this investment," Galea added. Galea argued that the health- care professionals were looking forward to working in a state- of-the-art hospital which would improve service for both patients and workers. "In reality, the hospital will be privately managed whilst the workers will remain government employees." Some 300 workers currently work at the Gozo General Hos- pital. The VGH deal has been pre- sented for full scrutiny to the Auditor General, after which it will be discussed by the par- liamentary public accounts committee. €699,191 in council payments not covered by VAT receipts JAMES DEBONO PAYMENTS totalling €700,000 paid to the 68 local councils in 2015 were not accompanied by a proper fiscal receipt, according to information provided to this newspaper by the office of the Auditor General (NAO). The amount could be even higher as the amounts only comprise "instances encoun- tered during a sample testing", a spokesperson for the NAO told MaltaToday. This represents more than twice the amount of irregular payments f lagged by NAO last year when payments not accom- panied by a proper receipt to- talled €340,000, down from €1.6 million in the previous year. For the third consecutive year the NAO's report on local gov- ernment f lags instances where substantial amounts of expendi- ture incurred for the councils' operations was not supported by a valid fiscal receipt, even though the respective service provider did not qualif y for the exemption under the pertinent legislation. Moreover, in a number of cas- es, "procurement was only sup- ported by an unofficial piece of paper". In such instances, it could not be ascertained that the respective expenditure was actually incurred for the run- ning of the council. At times, even the invoice sub- mitted by the supplier lacked necessary details, such as details of the supplier, and identifica- tion of the client. The NAO insists that an in- voice, as well as fiscal receipts, be obtained for all the expendi- tures incurred by councils. In cases where the supplier lacks adherence to VAT regu- lations, the council is to "dis- continue procuring from such defaulter until the situation is rectified ". In this year's report the coun- cil reporting the largest amount of payments not accompanied by a receipt was St Paul 's Bay (€162,531) followed by Ghajn- sielem (€154,902) and Mosta (€74,287). In its reply to NAO the St Paul 's Bay council has promised that it will be adopting a system where- by no payments will be issued unless a fiscal receipt has been issued for the previous payment. The Ghajnsielem council has also promised to "put in place a system whereby staff will start chasing suppliers who do not provide a VAT fiscal receipt". The Mosta council claimed that it does its utmost to obtain fiscal receipts from suppliers and has promised to report anyone who fails to submit a fiscal receipt to the VAT Department. Top 5 defaulting councils: St Paul's Bay €162,543 Ghajnsielem €154,902 Xaghra €68,304 Mgarr €38,332 Mdina €34,123 MAM general secretary Martin Balzan (left)