Pearl Agius, a Labour TV reporter who months ago was recruited as a government agency lawyer, has filed a complaint in court that she has not yet been given a warrant to be able to practice her profession.
A judicial protest filed in court a few days ago by Agius and around 10 other students said that despite graduating lawyers and sitting for their warrant exams, they are still waiting for their warrants to be able to start working as lawyers.
Students who have graduated but still do not have their warrants cannot practice as lawyers but this does not seem to have been the case for the 24-year-old ONE TV reporter.
Unlike her peers who, like her, are eager to get their hands on their warrants to start earning a living, Agius has already been receiving a full salary as WasteServ’s in-house lawyer although, according to her own judicial protest, she cannot yet exercise her profession.
Sources at WasteServ told The Shift that Agius, who has been put on the agency’s payroll directly by CEO Richard Bilocca, have confirmed that her recruitment has been carried out irregularly.
“On what basis did WasteServ choose to employ an unwarranted lawyer and at the same time discriminate against her own student colleagues and any other warranted lawyers who were not given the same opportunity?” one senior WasteServ official asked.
The Shift has reported how Agius has been employed as a lawyer at the CEO’s office for months without a public call.
Asked to state how Agius was recruited by WasteServ before she even graduated, Bilocca denied the fact and said WasteServ had no contract with Agius.
He changed his tune, however, when The Shift sent him a screenshot of WasteServ’s digital directory, which lists Agius as working within his own office.
Pearl Agius’ employment status as it appears on Wasteserv’s server.
In response, Bilocca acknowledged that Agius formed part of his team but insisted that she was not recruited by the agency but, rather, by its human resources provider.
The Shift is informed that through a €10 million contract given to the OZO group, a private human resources agency run by the Zammit Tabona family, most of WasteServ’s lower-grade and manual workers are provided by the agency. In this case, OZO has also provided the services of an in-house lawyer.
It is not known how, from among the hundreds of warranted and experienced lawyers around, an unwarranted ONE TV reporter was chosen for the job.
It is, however, known that such agencies contracted by the government and its agencies are being used to bypass the regular public sector recruitment channels to place selected people on the public payroll with public calls for vacancies.
Apart from being a ONE TV reporter, Agius is also a canvasser for Environment Minister Miriam Dalli, who is politically responsible for WasteServ.
Agius was also appointed by the government last year to act as the board secretary for the Commission on Gender-Based Violence and Domestic Violence, where she earned an additional salary while studying and working as a reporter.
Sources at WasteServ told The Shift that Agius had also been “given a good push”, by her uncle, Jesmond Abela, aka Il-Hutch.
Himself a Labour stalwart, il-Hutch had been given a phantom job at government agency Projects Plus and remained on the scandal-prone agency’s payroll despite protracted absences from his place of employment.
The country is terminally ill and unless a serious and an in depth investigation, carried out at EU level, delving into how appointments and promotions are being dished out – nothing will change. Hand picked highly paid PL lackeys were placed within agencies and authorities, with the sole intent of screening employees files, looking out for PL’ers, for same to be placed in “designed” posts – whilst qualified employees, have and will continue to be sidelined!!
Hence why Gahan prevails.
L-EU mhijiex is-salvawomo. Il-poplu Malti ghandu jkun hu li jinduna li diehel gol-hajt, u jekk mhux kapaci l-UE ghandha titfaghna ‘l barra.
Malta will have to go through what Greece went through some years back, then, only then would the average gahan wake up!
Not bad; not bad at all!!!!!
SKANDLU FUQ SKANDLU FUQ SKANDLU PROSİT LABOUR.
İL LABURİSTİ GENWİNİ JİBQAW B XEJN. VERU LİL MİN TAF.
SEWWA GHİD PATRİK DALLİ MAZUNERİJA U MAFJA SHİHA HAWN FİL PAJJİZ.
CAP CAP GAHAN MEQ MEQ
This is the racket , Kartell being run by OZO , with many organisations who only employ persons through their offices. This effectively is excluding Maltese from getting a job when the persons being on the front desk of looking at vacancy applicants are foreigners. These same first selection personnel ( HR) ,may also be getting a piece of the cake when employing a foreigner, but not a Maltese. The alleged €7000 per foreigner who is given a job in Malta , goes a long way dirtying the hands of the involved.
Kullhadd jithanzer. Mil-Ħanzir sal griwie
Dawn qed jiffangaw ghax dawn juruk ughandhom f’mohhom li ser jergghu jfottu ‘jahxu’ bil-Malti, fl’elezjoni. Qumu min hemm PN u ohrajn. Ghax ghad jigi zmien li nishtu id-dittatura f’pajjizna li Gabilna Joseph Muscat f’pajjizna. Ghad jigri id-demm f’dan il-pajjiz imsejjah nisrani. U dan kollu ghax kollha korrotti kriminali u jibzghu mil-gustizzja. Ghajb ghal dawk in-nies ta’integrita li huma fil-kawlata maghhom.