Kottonera Foundation has more board members than employees

A small government entity responsible for rehabilitating and regenerating the Kottonera region has more board members than employees dedicated to executing its mission.

The Foundation, established by the Labour Party a few years ago under the direction of Culture Minister Owen Bonnici, operates as an extension of the local councils in the three Kottonera cities: Cospicua, Senglea, and Vittoriosa—Labour’s strongest constituency.

The Foundation seems to lack purpose and projects. Its website indicates that the only two notable projects it carried out last year were a concert in September and another on New Year’s Eve.

Recent data tabled in parliament reveals that the Foundation’s board comprises 12 members and is chaired by Joe Mizzi, a former Labour transport minister who was removed from his position by Prime Minister Robert Abela. He was replaced by Alison Zerafa Civelli, a former mayor of Bormla and the sister of Lydia Abela, the prime minister’s wife.

To compensate for his ousting from the cabinet and later from parliament—after decades as the leading Labour MP in Kottonera—the prime minister appointed Mizzi Chair of the Foundation, with a salary of around €40,000 a year.

Mizzi already receives a ministerial pension, amounting to two-thirds of a minister’s salary, in addition to his regular national insurance pension.

According to the list of employees the minister submitted to parliament, the Foundation currently employs 10 people, including Mizzi. Of these, five are managers, while the other six hold junior positions.

It remains unclear what these employees do during their full-time hours and whether they are all present at the Foundation’s offices in Senglea during regular working hours.

Before Mizzi’s appointment, the Foundation was managed by another Labour MP, Glenn Bedingfield. In addition to his MP honorarium, Bedingfield was paid €50,000 while studying for a full-time law degree at the University of Malta. Last year, he was promoted to Parliamentary Secretary for Public Cleanliness.

The Kottonera Foundation has a budget of €800,000 for 2025.