A vacancy for the appointment of a new chief officer at Transport Malta has raised eyebrows among senior officials who believe it is set for an official frequently mentioned in the recent driving tests scandal.
The newly appointed CEO, Kurt Farrugia, the former spokesman of disgraced former prime minister Joseph Muscat, issued the internal vacancy for a new land transport chief officer.
Sources at Transport Malta told The Shift that Farrugia was acting on the direct instructions of Transport Minister Chris Bonnet.
They said the vacancy was tailor-made for Gilbert Agius, a former PN counting hall agent who switched to Labour in 2013, when the Party was elected, and started canvassing various government ministers, particularly those related to transport.
According to the internal vacancy notice seen by The Shift, the right candidate for the post must have 20 years’ experience in a managerial role in Land Transport and occupy the position of a director or higher.
The specifics of the vacancy.
“It is only Gilbert Agius who qualifies for such a promotion. They could have been a bit more subtle in this pre-arranged promotion,” a senior Transport Malta officer told The Shift.
Although Agius was not arraigned in court, his name appears in various chats received by Clint Mansueto – the alleged brains behind the racket – asking for help for candidates during their driving tests.
While Agius, as Mansueto’s manager, was supposedly responsible for preventing the scandal, the chats exhibited in court show him as a participant.
Transport Malta officer Gilbert Agius.
According to chat logs, Agius sent Mansueto details of specific candidates and often made it clear they were important ones: from the MTA chairman “Gavin Gulia’s son” to “Minister (Chris) Cardona’s wife” and the son of then-MTA CEO Johann Buttigieg.
Another was a “friend of IB”, presumably Minister Ian Borg. One came from “Silvio Grixti”. On another occasion, he flagged a worker for a company close to Labour who had sat for his test seven times.
According to the chats, in December 2019, Mansueto complained to Agius that the Transport Ministry’s selected were hogging all the driving test spots.
“I had seven slots, and the ministry swallowed them up in two days,” he told Agius.
No disciplinary measures were ever taken against Agius over his participation in the alleged racket.
Of course he’s going to be promoted, the bigger the Puck up the bigger the promotion, and then another after that till they’ve made him “disappear” before the charges drop through the letter box.
On Friday 20th September an internal call was made for 6 new roles. Jot this down that the following shall make it in these roles: Sandro and Jean. How long have they been in TM. For sure possibly 1 year or even less. What experience do they have in TM when compared to other long term serving colleagues? Meritocracy down the drain. This is what is leading to the increasing amount of non-voters in elections cause trust in both main parties has faded away. On one hand the PL is exercising nepotism at its best for the few with the opportunity cost of losing many votes and on the other hand the PN is being silent and not raising PQs re such matters or else resort to the ombudsman for further investigations.
the banana republic, it is confirmed as such
Guda ma iddejja. XEJN JITRADIXXI LI KRISTU ahsebu ara tesserat ta partit HUX hekk AGIUS???
I guess the saying is true, it’s not how much you know but who you know.
TM is corrupt to the core, it is know for sidelining honest, well qualified and hard working employees simply because of their political beliefs. All Directorates are tainted – it is now one Labour stronghold – with lackeys enjoying one promotion after another!!
Cannot agree more. TM is designed to rot and is unfortunately a place where either qualified professionals have to work with blinkers to avoid seeing what’s happening around them or you have to be a tesserat ma taf min.
The brain drain this authority suffered during these last 5 years is impressive.
Is there another country on earth like Malta? I think not.
Plenty, in the African and Asian continents.
Ta’ Malta taghna lkoll (ghasafar tal-passa) jirrenjaw u dawk li ma’vvutawx……jibqghu ma’jivvotawx.
Criminality is the best certificate with this government.
And what Qualifications one must have??!! An MQF Level 7 or a Masters in Business Administration CERTIFICATE! What a difference. I’m sure Mr. Agius has the latter 🙁