Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/765642
WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION €1.00 Newspaper post PAGE 9 • Editorial WEDNESDAY • 21 DECEMBER 2016 • ISSUE 501 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY MINISTRY FOR GOZO Victoria Local Council PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARIAT FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT www.visitgozo.com S P E C I A L G U E S T DESI CAMPBELL Novel | Upper lip | Strait ahead | DJ Brooks | DJ MatT & Geez Independence Square & St George's Square • 10pm onwards V I C T O R I A - G O Z O V I C T O R I A - G O Z O V I C T O R I A - G O Z O V I C T O R I A - G O Z O V I C T O R I A - G O Z O V I C T O R I A - G O Z O V I C T O R I A - G O Z O Labour calls on Jason Azzopardi to shoulder responsibility for 'suspicious' land transfers FTS suppliers gave Bartolo aide 'compensation' for timely payments SAVIOUR BALZAN POLICE investigators are sifting through some 50 pages of printed cheque transactions that involve payments from the Foundation for Tomorrow's Schools payments amounting to over €8 million. The reason for this particular interest is because many of these HSBC cheques were delivered by hand by the former procurement officer of FTS, Edward Caruana, to contractors and suppliers of the agency responsible for the construction and refurbishment of state schools. Caruana was a long-time can- vasser and personal driver of edu- cation minister Evarist Bartolo, before being appointed as FTS procurement officer on a person- of-trust basis, where he is now suspected of having allegedly ex- ercised undue inf luence over the issuing of direct orders and other forms of pro- curement. FTS chief executive Philip Riz- zo was the one to have accused Caruana of exercising undue inf luence over the FTS procure- ment system, even telling Evarist Bartolo in an email that it was highly suspicious that Caruana was building an expansive apart- ment block in Rabat while accu- sations of incorrect procurement procedures were f lying. On Sunday, MaltaToday re- vealed that the source of the mon- ey used by Caruana to build an apartment block in Rabat was the final detail remaining to be estab- lished in the Economic Crimes Unit's investigation into the FTS scandal. Caruana is believed to have by- passed protocol by securing the FTS accounts unit's permission or compliance to issue payments of large amounts of money to the FTS suppliers, broken down in smaller cheques. PAGE 3 The PN unfurled a banner over the Rabat property at the centre of police investigations into the FTS scandal. INSET: Edward Caruana allegedly cashed 'thank you' payments for delivering cheques on time MATTHEW VELLA THE Labour Party wants Op- position leader Simon Bu- suttil to walk the walk on his political commitment towards good govern- ance, for former lands minister Jason Azzopardi to shoulder responsibility for irregular land trans- fers highlighted by the National Audit Office. "The Attorney Gen- eral has not only al- luded but stated, in the simplest of terms, that Azzopardi has to shoulder re- sponsibility," junior minister for planning Deborah Schembri said. In July 2015, MaltaToday re- ported that the finance minis- try's permanent secretary had opposed a decision to acquire part of HSBC Malta's offices in Valletta for €2.2 million in 2011, in the belief that the government was forking out more money than it ought to. Documents obtained by Malta- Today showed that then finance minister Tonio Fenech green- lit a €2.2 million acquisition of the HSBC property on Republic Street, having been the govern- ment's intention to move the At- torney General's office out of The Palace and the Main Guard. Now, the Auditor General is- sued a damning indictment of the government's acquisition of the former HSBC bank properties, arguing that there was a lack of transparency and "unwarranted" intervention by the Office of the Prime Minister. At the time, Tonio Fenech was Minister for Finance whilst Ja- son Azzopardi was responsible of lands. In its findings, the NAO ar- gued that the identification of the properties lacked the trans- parency ensured through a more open process of acquisition. The NAO did not obtain conclusive evidence as to whether political pressure was exerted; however, it noted interventions made by sev- eral, including then Prime Minis- ter Lawrence Gonzi and Azzopar- di. "Aside from the OPM's initial role, interventions by the Prime Minister and the Parliamentary Secretary Revenues and Land made later on in the process, de- spite the concerns raised by the Permanent Secretary MFEI, were noted". PAGE 4