A year of impact and challenges

The Shift’s commitment to delivering journalism that makes a difference and our dedication to unearthing the facts has set us apart and ensured we’re still here seven years on.

Our community of supporters knows what we’re all about, and thanks to them, we’re proud of the three strengths that now define us: We’re impact-led, we’re relentless, and we’re fiercely independent.

This isn’t just talk. We mean what we say. Here is a sample of our achievements in 2024.

Clayton Bartolo and Amanda Muscat

It was The Shift that revealed, in February 2022, the transfer of the Tourism Minister’s girlfriend, Amanda Muscat, to the Gozo Ministry for a job she never did.

The Shift explained this was a move to avoid the embarrassment caused to former Gozo Minister Justyne Caruana, who employed her boyfriend, Daniel Bogdanovic.

Although both the Tourism Ministry and the Gozo Ministry denied the allegations, The Shift published the record of her employment.

Following a request for an investigation by activist and independent candidate Arnold Cassola, a report published by the Standards Commissioner this year confirmed The Shift’s findings, saying Muscat received a salary of some €70,000 for a job she never did and for which she was not qualified.

Bartolo married Muscat in the summer. Questions were raised about the lavish ceremony in venues connected to his ministry during the same weekend when his ministry spent €4 million of public funds on a Film Awards ceremony, using the same suppliers. Although he said the couple paid for the wedding costs, he refused to publish the bills.

Inquiry on public land deals

Lawyer and former MP Jason Azzopardi has requested a magisterial inquiry on the scandalous land transfers revealed by The Shift throughout the year.

They include the decision to grant a large parcel of land in Mellieħa to mega-developer Paul Attard and his associate Paul Vella tal-Ballut to build 109 apartments over five storeys. The Shift first revealed the case and monitored developments leading to the land grab despite public protests.  The Lands Authority has blocked Freedom of Information requests to publish the valuation of the 4,000-square-metre plot at il-Qortin.

The other questionable land transfers revealed by The Shift and included in the request for an inquiry are the alley in St George’s Bay, estimated to be worth €3 million and given to tal-Franċiz for his Villa Rosa project for only €134,000.

They also included the Armier’s Palm Beach Lido transfer, where the government got €20,000 from a €2 million deal, and a 250-square-metre site in Victoria, Gozo, illegally occupied by Ronnie and William Gatt of Gatt Tarmac Ltd. For the Gozo site, The Shift revealed the tender had been compromised before publication.

Pierre Sladden, facing criminal charges for money laundering and fraud, also benefitted from the Lands Authority’s public lands deals. It involved a concession on the Xgħajra waterfront granted to Ivan Vassallo of Technoline, which has also raised serious questions about the manoeuvres by the Lands Authority to help Sladden acquire a seaside property he planned to develop into a restaurant.

All these deals have one thing in common: Lands Authority CEO Robert Vella signing off deals and giving away prime public land as questions arise about what he stood to gain.

Robert Abela’s lawyer

Earlier this month, The Shift exclusively revealed that lawyer Ryan Pace, 31, who was Robert and Lydia Abela’s assistant at their private legal firm until 2020, got yet another government job as the legal representative of Festivals Malta.

His remuneration for this job alone was €17,000, which tops at least 11 other government jobs that he currently holds while also running his legal practice.

Apart from the latest remuneration from Festivals Malta and the Malta Gaming Authority, Pace is also paid as a lawyer for the Malta Tourism Authority and Aġenzija Sapport, and as a government-appointed director of the Malta Film Commission, ARMS Ltd, Gozo Heliport Ltd, Engineering Resources Ltd, Mediterranean Offshore Bunkering Ltd, Malta Government Investments Ltd and Malta Investment Management Company Ltd.

Independent politician and activist Arnold Cassola has requested the Auditor General to investigate.

Nadur Road scandal

A road project in Gozo, which had to be completed in two years for €8 million, took five years to complete and cost taxpayers €18.5 million—a staggering €10.5 million over budget.

The Shift first started investigating the project in 2023 and monitored the project’s expenditure. Through its investigative reports, The Shift revealed how, following plans and the commencement of works in 2019 on the main road from Għajnsielem to Nadur, Minister Clint Camilleri halted the project as soon as he took over the Gozo Ministry in 2020.

Camilleri immediately changed the project’s architect. And now, the minister refuses to explain how the architect he picked, Godwin Agius, a former colleague, was engaged through a direct order a few weeks after Prime Minister Robert Abela made Minister Camilleri the Gozo Minister was paid a sum of almost €722,000.

Jason Azzopardi has requested a magisterial inquiry claiming a €700,000 bribe was paid.

Freedom of Information

The Shift continues to battle over 40 legal challenges filed by the government to suppress freedom of information. We have won more than half of these challenges, each victory a win for the public’s right to know.

In recent months, the Information Commissioner has ordered the publication of tenor Joseph Calleja’s contracts, the costs of Europride, the Malta European Song Contest, the Film Commission’s events and the Manchester United contract. The Shift has been unable to report these facts because every entity is still fighting us in court.

We continue to fight back on your behalf. On these issues and more, such as PS Joyce Dimech’s wedding for her daughter at Cittadella, where the law was changed a day before to permit a wedding in a location denied to everyone else. The information continues to be suppressed, but The Shift is known for seeing things through. Dimech is being investigated.

Our work doesn’t just inform—it drives change. In the seven years we’ve been around, our stories still contribute to police investigations, parliamentary questions, and inquiries by the National Audit Office, the Standards Commissioner and the European Commission. Our investigations into the fraudulent Vitals Hospitals concession deal led to a magisterial inquiry and the arraignment of several individuals who once believed themselves untouchable.

The Shift is community-funded. Our achievements are only possible through your support. Please consider a donation to help us start the year with the motivation and drive that leads to results. Please click on the banner below to donate.