Tista’ taqra l-artiklu bil-Malti hawn.
Mariella Dimech, a former activist against the legalisation of cannabis use, has been hired on an €82,000 financial package by the government to act as the first executive chair and CEO of a new government agency regulating the use of cannabis.
Handpicked by Minister Owen Bonnici, without a call for applications, Dimech has been given a three-year contract to manage a new law legalising the drug.
According to her contract, seen by The Shift, Dimech will answer directly to the minister and will be earning a basic salary of more than €64,000 a year. Yet her take-home pay, funded by taxpayers, will catapult to a staggering €82,000 a year through a series of perks, including a performance bonus of almost €10,000 a year, apart from other generous allowances covering her transport, communications and entertainment expenses.
Dimech will be occupying a double role, that of CEO and chairman of an authority yet to be set up. Her contract does not stipulate who determines her annual performance and the payment of her €10,000 annual bonus. Sources close to the government told The Shift that, initially, Dimech’s performance will be evaluated by the minister.
Apart from setting up the new Authority, which will be tasked with regulating the use of cannabis, including awarding licences to newly formed organisations involved in growing and selling the drug, Dimech’s authority will also be required to monitor the effectiveness of this legislation on society and gauge whether it leads to an increase in social problems.
Dimech became a psychotherapist after graduating from the University of Malta as a mature student.
Dimech started her work life as an air hostess in Saudi Arabia. After working for a short time in the tourism industry, she joined the leading provider of drug rehabilitation services, Caritas Malta, as a facilitator and progressed to overseeing rehabilitation programmes for drug users. At the time, she opposed the legalisation of cannabis, insisting publicly that the drug’s legalisation would be harmful to society.
Dimech has also presented a number of state-sponsored TV discussion programmes on PBS, produced by her brother Saviour Balzan.
To date, Mariella Dimech is the only full-time employee of the cannabis Authority, while the government-appointed board includes Janice Formosa Pace, Nadine Brincat, Sina Bugeja, Charles Cassar, Gabriel Farrugia, Paul Micallef, Charles Scerri and Joe Reno Vella.
Caritas rejected an invitation from Minister Bonnici to nominate a director on the board on the basis of its opposition to the law enacted by the government last January.
CONTINUITY – SHAME ON THE MUVUMENT KORROTT
How can this person be worried about the increase in the cost of living? Mafia state
X’ma jivvotawx Labour bil-qalb…dawk l-eluf kollha u gahan icacpilhom.
Salaries, benefits etc for Chairpersons, directors and CEOs of government entities should be established by law.
The irony, she told us that no one will be profiting from the cannabis reform.
Nobody except politicians and the big business men. With SB and OB her pedigree to suck the tax payers teats are impeccable
Well deserved. Congratulations for respecting good people. For those idiots complaining… Would you rather have an unpaid person who to make up for her lack on income makes shady deals and stupid decisions like most of our politicians ?! Let her do her job properly and respect it, that’s the only way this policy will be introduced to our society the correct way.
A not-so-transparent contract given to someone that was handpicked by a minister for a position that had no public call for applications is well deserved? This same person opposed the legalisation of marijuana yet accepted the position anyway (by contrast, Caritas refused to have a representative on the board on account of being against the legalisation). And most importantly, the same person just so happens to be the sister of a very busy PR consultant for a number of ministers—the same PR consultant attempting to discredit The Shift and whose contracts with the government are being obfuscated via devious legal action that attempts to undermine the authority of the Data Protection Commissioner and drain The Shift’s resources.
But no, let’s respect good people.
What makes u so sure there still won’t be shady deals? Aren’t OB and SB shady, she is in good company?
So, the 10K bonus depends on how quietly smokers do their thing ? Or is it based on how much home grown weed progresses ?
And the government is getting into a National debt of €1200 MILLION every year .
Highway robbery of the Public’s Savings ????
She must be really high now (pun intended) on such a salary scale; well higher than that of a Minister’s.
Dirty money talks. What a sad siuation we are in. No morals at all.
Bil-barka ta’Gahan kienu u baqghu jaghmlu HNIZRIJIET LI QATT MA KONT TISMA BHALHOM. Meta ser titghallem Gahan, inti tghix hajja fil-faqar u fil-hajja mizerja ma tistax taghmel kapricc. U Fl’istess hin dawn il-gabilotti jghumu fix- XAMPANJA u jisirquk haj billi ic-cejca li suppost ituk, qed jehduha kollha huma. Meta ha tiftah mohhok jixtruk bil-karawett.