The brother of newly elected Active Aging Minister Jo Etienne Abela has been transferred from Gozo Channel to the Gozo Ministry despite no vacancy.
The ministerial code of ethics prohibits Cabinet members from employing family members, but it seems the minister from Gozo, a surgeon by profession, found a way to bypass the rules.
The minister’s brother, Christian Abela, was placed on the payroll of Abela’s fellow cabinet member, Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri.
Christian Abela is not even a public service employee, making such a transfer ‘obscene’, according to ministry insiders.
Sources speaking to The Shift said it is not even clear who is now paying Abela’s salary. Although Abela is now on the Gozo Ministry’s books, no one really knows what he does. He is rarely present.
“His designation is marked as an authorised officer without any form of responsibility. Permanent Secretary John Borg, who is responsible for the ministry’s administration, is fully aware of the situation.”
Jo Etienne Abela, who ran his electoral campaign on a platform pledging to end Gozo’s rampant nepotism – in a bid to distance himself from Gozitan Ministers Clint Camilleri and Anton Refalo – then followed their path once he was elected.
The first thing he did upon taking his oath of office was to appoint his brother’s wife, Mariella Abela, to his private secretariat.
A facilitator at a government school until the last elections in March, Minister Abela granted his sister-in-law and, indirectly, his brother’s family a contract worth almost €50,000 annually.
Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri has already made a name for himself for favours for colleagues. The Shift revealed how Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo’s girlfriend Amanda Muscat was given a job within the Gozo Ministry’s secretariat to distance their relationship from the position she did actually occupy at the Tourism Minister’s office in Valletta.
All in the family.
The Minister responsible for active ageing, instead of finding an anonymous job for his brother should roll up his sleeves and sort out the prison atmosphere created at St. Vincent de Paule.
A fine form of embezzlement of public funds.How does this differ from the Melvyn Theuma Fake Job case?
CORRUPT LIARS
Are there no laws in this country that controls such blatant corrupt practices? We have sleeping policemen and clockwork AG and PM who talks to himself.
Ethical and professional behavior are two important factors in life which the Labour Party can never come to terms with, since they do not know any better. They cannot do without supporting bad practices and corruption because the current leaders of this country have no idea of what democracy truly entails. They accept wrongdoings, corruption and killings as opportunities for those who would like to maliciously strive. On the contrary they will punish people of good will who stand firm in front of this regime.
Corrupt practice. This is to add with the endless list of Gozo Ministry workers who go and sign their attendance sheet or make present and leave immediately their supposed 8 hours day paid work and go to do another part time work somewhere else. Most of them irregular and stealing the work of the regular self employed Gozitans. This is done with the blessing of the Gozo Ministry everyday all over the island. Shame. Where is the Accountant General? Where are the Auditors ? Where are inspectors? All are paid millions from our taxes and contribute nothing to the country. Gozo is in a sorry state and it has never been in such a depleted state.
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