Hard times: Brigadier cancels free milk rations at Transport Malta

Brigadier Jeffrey Curmi, who was appointed as Transport Malta’s chief executive officer a few weeks ago, has ordered that the government entity will no longer be providing free milk for coffee and tea for its 1,000 plus employees.

A tender issued by the transport regulator last month, for “the supply and delivery” of fresh milk, has been immediately cancelled on the Brigadier’s executive orders. Questions The Shift sent to Transport Malta about the change in policy have remained unanswered.

Sources at Transport Malta, meanwhile, have confirmed to The Shift that the slashing of milk provisions is being considered as one of the austerity measures being taken by the authority to reduce its spending. The move comes as part of the reduction in funding being provided by the finance ministry in its bid to control the government’s soaring public debt, which is expected to surpass the staggering €9 billion mark in a few weeks.

Describing the Brigadier’s decision as mere “window dressing”, TM officials said that while the measure has “frustrated employees as its cost is only a few hundred euros a year”, they commented that it would have been better if the CEO had started by taking a cut from his “enormous financial package and perks,” to set a good example.

Following the lead of his former Armed Forces of Malta deputy commander, Colonel Mark Mallia – who was landed with a €100,000 package as the CEO of Identity Malta – Brigadier Curmi, known for his proximity to disgraced former prime minister Joseph Muscat, was given a similarly plum job as the CEO of  Transport Malta with a €115,000 salary.

According to sources at Transport Malta, the Brigadier was given a brief by Prime Minister Robert Abela to instil discipline at the regulator following years of mismanagement, unnecessary recruitment and the waste of public funds witnessed in the years in which it had fallen under the political remit of former transport minister Ian Borg.

From under 400 employees in 2013, Transport Malta has been inundated over recent years with staff hailing in particular from the former transport minister’s constituencies of Rabat and Dingli. So much so that the regulator ended up with over 1,000 employees.

Over the second half of 2020, according to the latest available data, Transport Malta, at the time under the chairmanship of Joseph Bugeja, forked out a record 350 direct orders with a value of over €6 million.

Measures are now being put in place to reduce costs at the regulator as the finance ministry tightens the purse strings after years of outrageous public spending across the board.

Transport Malta sources have also said that an Ian Borg canvasser, who had been tasked with the distribution of milk to TM’s offices, has now been redirected by the CEO’s office to begin distributing letters and other correspondence to staff. He was, however, allowed to use his company car, which he previously used to distribute cartons of milk cartons to the various TM offices.

                           

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saviour mamo
saviour mamo
2 years ago

Everything shows that this country is on the way to bankruptcy. We will know about it when people at Castille start making their getaway.

viv
viv
2 years ago
Reply to  saviour mamo

The Rats Jumping Ship … will not be televised.

Michael Mifsud
Michael Mifsud
2 years ago

U iva issa jghamel tender biex jixtri ghaxar baqriet u minflok mill bieb jkun ghadda mit tieqa, l impjegati jkollom halib frisk u kulhadd jkun kuntent.

Joseph Tabone Adami
Joseph Tabone Adami
2 years ago

It looks like going back to the ‘nissikkaw ic-cintorin’ and the ‘inehhu x-xaham’ times under the Labour government back in the early and mid-1970’s.

Incidentally, no Board or Authority head was, in those years, receiving the relative equivalent of to-day’s remuneration and perks afforded to the incumbents nowadays!

Melissa Joan Bagley
Melissa Joan Bagley
2 years ago

In this case, no more milking the cow.

Shaggy
Shaggy
2 years ago

Ix-xitan m’ghandux halib.

Andrew Bezzina
Andrew Bezzina
2 years ago

ahjar jkeccu min qed hemm biex jahli il hin mela jaqtaw xi haga bazika bhal halib. U dan kif andu paga dopju tal prim?

Mark Castillo
Mark Castillo
2 years ago
Reply to  Andrew Bezzina

U inti tahseb lil-prim ma’ jdallalx hafna aktar mil-brigadier?
Tahseb li Fearne ma’jdahhalx iktar mi-chief of staff tieghu?
Tahseb li l-ministri kollha ma’jaghmlux hekk ukoll?

carlos
carlos
2 years ago
Reply to  Andrew Bezzina

forsi nofshom imorru il-milend.

David
David
2 years ago

He should do better if he investigated the abuses in Transport Malta. One of them is in the VRT Stations. Transport Malta is responsible for the pollution in Malta. How come those trucks on the road pass the VRT Tests? For example in Gozo it is no secret that every truck that require the VRT Testing goes to the VRT Station in the last 3 days of the month because they have the guarantee that they will not be recalled for inspection, since the vehicle inspectors from Malta comes to Gozo 4 days before the end of the month. I am sure that Transport Malta Authority know about this serious abuse but they are closing both eyes. They made VRT test as an additional tax and a joke. Wake up Mr Curmi. Open your eyes before it is too late.

Brian Borg
Brian Borg
2 years ago

Qataghlhom iz-zejza!

Michael Borg
2 years ago

When any business is patently over staffed, it is glaringly obvious that the headcount has to be reduced.
Minn hemm imissu beda’ l-ex Brigadier, mela’ mil-kafe u l-halib.
Small minded people always come up with small minded initiatives!

Frans Cassar
Frans Cassar
2 years ago
Reply to  Michael Borg

Slashing headcount will never happen in a public entity and never under a PL administration. Hundreds will be transferred to other government phantom jobs, it’s happening at Air Malta and it happened before. In the end, it’s always private tax-paying money that is being wasted to keep a huge voting majority under control.

carlos
carlos
2 years ago
Reply to  Frans Cassar
  • to keep a huge greedy, lazy and ignorant majority under control.
D.Vela
D.Vela
2 years ago

Measures like these hurt another company MDP which has a direct effect on the farmers and their ability to buy feed for their cows. Should have opted for a reduced overtime hours.

Last edited 2 years ago by D.Vela
Albert Mamo
Albert Mamo
2 years ago

FOR THIS CORRUPT LABOUR GOVERNMENT, TO ISSUE DIRECT ORDERS TO ITS CRONIES WORTH MILLIONS. TO CUT A FEW THOUSANDS IN MILK FOR EMPLOYEES. YOU HAVE TO LAUGH.

Mariatheresa Micallef
Mariatheresa Micallef
2 years ago

The poor gits are going to have to bring their own milk from home now!…while their CEO keeps enjoying his fat salary plus perks. Could they have possibly thought that cost cutting was not going to start from them be it milk or otherwise?
This is the result of voting in a corrupt government over again.

Godfrey Leone Ganado
Godfrey Leone Ganado
2 years ago

1. The additional employees cannot be blamed just on Ian Borg, but also on the Prime Minister and all the cabinet, particularly the Finance Minister and Mario Cutajar the head of the Public Service.
SOLUTION –
1. Sack all those additional employees, and reclaim any agency fees the GWU may have received on the scheme.
2. The Electoral Commission should be held responsible for this illicit electoral practice.
3. Bigadier Curmi should be made to refund the golden milk that he received, since being given a number of illicit promotions, to make it to Brigadier. He should also be made to refund expenses made on the back of the taxpayers, for the surveillance, manpower and equipment, used by the Armed Forces, for the fund raising ‘swimming’ activity held by Michelle Muscat, to fund her Marigold foundation.

carlos
carlos
2 years ago

let’s hope his day will come when he will have to answer for everything starting from the express promotions.

makjavel
makjavel
2 years ago

The treasure Gold Reserves have been given away. Back to MIntoff’s times . Gulepp u cintorin , bla dawl u bla ilma.

carlos
carlos
2 years ago

and now it’s the crumbs falling from the tables. Shame on the corrupt lot. There’s a saying in maltese : iz-zaqq il-mimlija qatt ma mpurta mill-vojta.
Maybe this would solve the 9 BILLION public debt.
Amateurs in every direction – but it’s ok as long as these are the people of trust employed by the most corrupt government Malta ever had.

Carmelo Borg
2 years ago

Prosit curmi qed tnaqqas l ispiza ghax ma tibdiex minhekk u tnaqqas is salarju esagert li ghandek.
IFFRAH JA HADDIEM GAHAN CAPCAP

D.Vela
D.Vela
2 years ago

A comparison
AM employees given full take home pay and jobs with the public sector.
Employees of the public sector told to buy their own water/coffee/sugar/milk because of cost cutting measures. Bravo!

Last edited 2 years ago by D.Vela
johann
johann
2 years ago

Imms fic centri ta lemigrsnti halib u jougarts hemm kemm trid kemm trid viva l gvern

Tal-Bellus
Tal-Bellus
2 years ago

Forget the milk, try the gravy (train)!

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