Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/972198
maltatoday SUNDAY 22 APRIL 2018 6 News CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 An audit carried out by the per- manent secretary has established that for close to five years, Buha- giar's wife had been making use of the BMW320 assigned to BICC for the chairman's use and that Buha- giar had leased another vehicle at BICC's expense and without seek- ing prior approval from the minis- try. Buhagiar is also assigned a full- time driver. MaltaToday is now informed that the auditors have uncovered other, possibly more damning, practices and are currently working to es- tablish responsibilities and the ex- tent of the damage. Soures said that for a number of years, Buhagiar and another BICC executive allegedly authorised the payment of money to employees for the purchase of fuel without any receipts being presented. Auditors will be establishing whether such money could have been paid for fuel purchased for the BMW320 used by Buhagiar's wife. It is as yet unclear how much had been paid out for fuel without any receipt being supplied, but the au- ditors appear to have immediately flagged this matter as of major concern. Also troubling is the disappear- ance of the official logbooks of a number of vehicles assigned to or leased by BICC, as well as books kept in the vehicles for users to log journey details, fuel purchases and other data. Major abuse seems to have been uncovered in the use of a Citroen vehicle, assigned to the BICC's messenger driver for official use during office hours. Minister Ian Borg denied having asked for the suspension or resig- nation of Buhagiar. MaltaToday's sources said Buha- giar could face a call from board members to put himself under scrutiny before the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee to an- swer to questioning by MPs. Charles Buhagiar gives no hint of resigning despite audit THE Maltese Pediatric Association has appealed to MPs to "safeguard the human rights of every embryo" in the amendments to the Embryo Pro- tection Act. The MPA said that the problem of higher or- der pregnancies had been "practically resolved" through the practice of egg freezing, and called for fundamental rights to be extended to em- bryos. In a resolution communicated to the press, the MPA said no embryo should be denied the right to live or have that right suspended or endan- gered under freezing; that embryos should have an equal right to be brought up by their natural parents; and that individuals born through IVF should have the right to know the identity of their biological parents in order to prevent them having children from potentially biological rela- tives. The MPA's statement came at loggerheads with that of Alternattiva Demokratika, which said it agreed with "respectful and controlled embryo freezing." The Green Party said it "hoped that the discus- sion on changes to the law regulating IVF and surrogacy takes place in a respectful manner es- pecially in view of those people who are suffering because for various reasons it is not possible for them to have a family which is genetically related to them." AD hailed as "positive" the fact that the bill ac- knowledges the desire to raise a family and crea- tion of a legal framework which facilitates this. "Before the introduction of the original law on IVF, the private sector literally put the lives of women and even babies born as a result of IVF at risk. This was because of the practice to implant many embryos, at times five embryos, in the womb, to increase the chance of success. This so-called success meant more suffering and debilitating health conditions. Today, fortunately this practice is no more," AD said. But it added that egg freezing has not always had positive results. "That is why it should be possible to freeze within reasonable limits, when and to the extent necessary, so that the treatment received is successful." AD acknowledged that there were "ethical di- lemmas and conflicting values", but said that "when put in the balance, the success of treat- ment leading to a desired child is also a very im- portant and positive value." While AD said it disagreed with commercial surrogacy, it said it was important to under- stand people for whom this is the only possibil- ity through which they can form a family with shared genetic characteristics. "Should surrogacy be possible, it should be 'altruistic surrogacy'. It should not be possible to commercialise women. Surrogacy should be based on solidarity and al- truism and not on the potential for financial gain." On gamete donation, AD said that both the per- son receiving the donation and the person who is born as a result this donation should, if and when they wish, have the right to know all information of relevance, in particular the identity of the do- nor. "Several rulings by courts around the world, including in the European Union, confirmed this right. The rights of people to have children, and of donors choosing to make a donation, should not impair the right of another person to know their full life history." It advocated the possibility of an opt-out of embryo freezing for couples undergoing fertility treatments. Greens: IVF law positive but requires controls