Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/893950
maltatoday SUNDAY 29 OCTOBER 2017 News 9 POST OF TECHNICAL SUPPORT OFFICER (ICT/AV) AT THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES The Clerk of the House of Representatives invites applications for the post of Technical Support Officer (ICT/AV). Details concerning the conditions, duties, eligibility requirements, selection and submission of applications can be found in the call for applications which may be downloaded from the website of the Parliament of Malta at the following address www.parlament.mt or collected from the Finance and Administration Section, House of Representatives, Freedom Square, Valletta VLT 1111. Applications, together with the relative documentation, will be received by the House of Representatives by not later than noon (CET), Friday, 10 November 2017, or submitted electronically on dcs.parlament@parlament.mt. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 It has tak- en the police 11 months to press charges against Caruana, after MaltaToday first reported in No- vember 2016 that the former chief executive of the FTS, Philip Rizzo, had alleged corruption in the issu- ing of direct orders for the renova- tion of government schools. Rizzo, 65, who resigned his post, had made specific reference to the role played by Edward Caruana in his capacity as the person responsi- ble for direct orders. Rizzo, an auditor by profession, also approached Prime Minister Joseph Muscat with his allegations about Edward Caruana, after which an investigation was initiated by the OPM's internal audit and investiga- tions department (IAID). Rizzo had also consulted with his lawyer over alleged threats he re- ceived after his reports on corrup- tion to the police. Education minister Evarist Bar- tolo had confirmed the reports, saying Rizzo had reported "a suspi- cious case of alleged manipulation of public procurement procedures and forgery of signatures". The minister had said he imme- diately ordered an independent in- vestigation and referred the matter to the police. The Principal Perma- nent Secretary also appointed the director-general for educational services, George Borg, to represent the ministry on this matter, instead of the then permanent secretary Jo- seph Caruana, to avoid any possible perceived conflict of interest. Edward Caruana, appointed to the FTS on a person-of-trust basis, was transferred to another govern- ment entity. The ongoing police investigation also probed the finances secured by Caruana to build a block of apart- ments in Rabat, estimated in value of some €2 million. Caruana's prop- erty was issued a permit in June 2015 and consists of six apartments, a three-bedroom penthouse and a ground floor basement. Notarial searches carried out by MaltaTo- day of the last three years indicate that Caruana did not take any bank loans on properties to finance his development. The searches shows that he only purchased a garage, for the value of around €36,000. Email correspondence that Bar- tolo later tabled in parliament showed that FTS chief Philip Rizzo flagged dubious quotations submit- ted by Edward Caruana for works on Gozo primary schools back in April and June 2016. Bartolo re- plied: "Let's keep it up our sleeves. I would like to meet on this." Bartolo told Rizzo that nobody – referring to Caruana – would enjoy immunity. "Please understand that no one, no one, no one, enjoys im- munity or is untouchable because he has worked for me politically since 1992. Understood?" Then an email dated 10 Septem- ber shows Rizzo disagreeing with the steps being taken by Bartolo to transfer Caruana, which was an indication that Bartolo was still un- sure on whether to sack Caruana. "Transferring Edward with same incredibly high remuneration pack- age is worse than doing nothing at all. All Gozo knows what he was up to… someone is going to ask from where during the last two years Ed- ward got [circa] €400,000 to build a six apartment block in Rabat. Be- lieve me, you're all playing with fire with highly flammable material all around in each FTS project's file." Defamation suit This was not the first time that Edward Caruana had been flagged in relation to allegations of corrup- tion. In 2015, Xewkija Gozitan contrac- tor Giovann Vella had told Antho- ny Muscat, then CEO of the FTS, that Edward Caruana had asked him for €30,000 so that [Caruana] could request the quality assurance officer to certify the works and re- lease the pending payments. According to The Times, Muscat had reported this to Bartolo on 31 August, 2015. Caruana had then asked the police to institute crimi- nal libel proceedings against Gio- vann Vella. Caruana's brother, Jo- seph, told the court that he had not felt the need to inform the police of any allegations of corruption since his brother had filed a defamation case in court. At the time, Bartolo also said he was "monitoring the situation". Joseph Caruana was only trans- ferred away from the education ministry to the finance ministry in June 2017. While the permanent secretary has always denied any connection with his brother's alleged crimes, The Times had reported that Jo- seph Caruana had copied confi- dential information to his brother, soon after receiving instructions from Bartolo on overdue payments which had to be settled by the FTS. Asked back in March 2016 to explain why he had felt the need to copy his brother Edward with confidential information behind his minister's back, Joseph Caruana did not reply. However, he insisted that he had nothing to hide and was ready to reply to questions put to him by the ongoing police investi- gation. Police to file charges against Bartolo aide MASSIMO COSTA THE Majjistral Park Federation yes- terday said they were disheartened at a decision to lengthen hunting and trapping times at the park, in what the federation said was a "back- wards move" against the interest of the environment and the public. Legal Notice 300 of 2017, pub- lished on Friday, lengthens hunt- ing times at the park from 10am to 12:30pm and trapping times from 10am to 2:30pm. The Federation, which is made up of NGOs Din l-Art Ħelwa, the Gaia Foundation and Nature Trust Malta with the support of BirdLife Malta, maintained the amendments were the results of back-room nego- tiations between the hunting federa- tion FKNK, the Environment Minis- ter and the Parliamentary Secretary. It said that the amendments, which came into effect on Friday, com- pletely ignored the fact that the gov- ernment's park supervisory board had unanimously advised against the lengthening of hunting and trapping hours. The park was located on mostly public land which was not intended for the exclusive use of hunters and trappers, the Federation added. The "unilateral" decision between the government and the hunting lobby was against the sustainable use spirit of a nature park, which was also a Natura 2000 site. Recreational and education activities would not be able to take place during hunting hours, and access to tourists would be reduced during the part of the year when hunting takes place, the Federation claimed. The decision also overrode edu- cational and visitor activities which had been scheduled by the park. Around 400 students were booked to visit the park from now to the end of the year, and ensuring their safety was essential. Moreover, legal notice amend- ments regarding public land use had to undergo a public consultation exercise as required by the Environ- mental Protection Act. Stakehold- ers, which would include the Malta Tourism Authority, recreational groups, residents, commercial out- lets and the general public should also be consulted. It was only for urgent matters that such legislation could be issued, the Federation said, and this was not the case here. The four NGOs said that they were unable to understand the govern- ment's appeasement of the hunting lobby "at a time when increased il- legal hunting incidents have charac- terised the current autumn hunting season." They accused the Environment Ministry of making a disservice to the general public by conceding favours to the hunting lobby, and not making efforts to find common ground which promoted the sustain- able use of land. "This move in favour of hunters and trappers constitutes a serious loss to families, eco lovers and stu- dents of nature as they are prevented from the relaxed enjoyment of open space at most hours without the presence of those who kill for sport," the NGOs said. MATTHEW AGIUS THE Court of Appeal has re- versed a decision by a first court that found for Dragonara Gam- ing when it contested a casino concession to Eden Leisure Group. Dragonara Gaming, which holds a 10-year concession on the Dragonara Casino in St Ju- lian's, had contested the award of a new casino licence to the Eden Leisure Group claiming its cash offer was much higher than the winning bidder. Dragonara had challenged the Privatisation Unit's decision and in a ruling handed down almost a year ago, the First Hall of the Civil Court had found for Drag- onara. The decision was appealed by the Eden Leisure Group and other government entities. The Privatisation Unit insisted that Dragonara should have contest- ed the award of the tender within six months and not a year after. The Court of Appeal, presided by Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri, Judge Tonio Mallia and Judge Joseph Azzopardi, upheld the argument filed by Eden Leisure's co-defendants, the Economy Ministry, the Finance Ministry and the Privatisation Unit, rul- ing that Dragonara's action was time-barred. In a 22-page judgment, the Court of Appeal said that the gov- ernment's actions were adminis- trative in nature and proceedings for the review of administrative actions were time barred by the lapse of six months from the date the interested party becomes aware of the situation. The court observed that the plaintiff should not have allowed almost a year to pass before filing the case despite having known about the decision the day after it was taken. The Court of Appeal abstained from taking further cognisance of the case, ruling it time-barred. Dragonara action on casino concession time-barred, Appeals Court rules NGOs lambast new Majjistral Park hunting and trapping times The park is located on mostly public land which was not intended for the exclusive use of hunters and trappers