Mosta mayorship challenger on three government jobs

Former Labour MP Anthony Agius Decelis has been appointed to the Foundation for Social Welfare Services (FSWS) board, allowing him to receive a third government remuneration.

The former parliamentary secretary, who was removed from office when Robert Abela became the leader of the Labour Party, not only works as a full-time health worker at Mater Dei but was also recently appointed chairman of the Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation (GHRC), a government entity responsible for infrastructural upgrades in Valletta and Kottonera.

The appointment was made by Social Justice Minister Michael Falzon, who is currently embroiled in a scandal involving millions in disability benefits fraudulently distributed for political gain.

The racket saw hundreds of people, mostly from Labour Party stronghold towns, fraudulently receiving millions of euro in disability benefits through a racket suspected to involve officials close to the Labour Party.

Meanwhile, Agius Decelis, who was unseated in the last general elections, is also eyeing the mayorship of Mosta, another paid position, challenging the unpopular incumbent, Labour’s Christopher Grech.

Minister Falzon has also re-appointed Trischia Falzon, the Deputy Head of One News, to the government agency board despite her lack of expertise in the sector.

Trischia Falzon is also on other paid government boards, including the Residency Malta Agency appeals board and a service contract with the Active Ageing Ministry to work on social media. However, it is unknown whether this contract has been renewed.

Over the past years, the FSWS has seen several partisan appointments, with Labour Party activists moving to top managerial positions.

Apart from CEO Alfred Grixti, a veteran Labour activist, the top management directors include two MEP candidates, Claudette Abela Baldacchino and Jesmond Bonello, the partner of Minister Owen Bonnici, Remenda Grech and Monsignor Joe Vella Gauci, Malta’s ambassador to UNESCO.