Sister promoted while Zammit Lewis kept waiting

Helen Caruana, sister of former minister Edward Zammit Lewis, has been given a significant promotion by Prime Minister Robert Abela, appointing her Chair of the government’s waste management company, Wasteserv.

Caruana, a Labour local councillor in Attard, has no tangible experience in the sector or in any other managerial position.

She graduated as a lawyer in her 50s and has been on the government’s gravy train since 2013. She has already served on the Wasteserv board for several years alongside Joanne Galdes, the wife of the Minister for Social Accommodation.

She will be replacing Frank Bezzina, a university professor and business partner of Labour pollster Vincent Marmara.

Apart from Wasteserv, Caruana holds other government appointments, including a position on the Malta Tourism Authority, where she serves as a member of the appeals board.

Zammit Lewis, an integral part of the coterie of disgraced former prime minister Joseph Muscat, has been making public his disgruntlement at being left out of the Cabinet.

Just a few days ago, he told the media that it was unfair that Abela did not appoint him minister, insisting that the prime minister had made a big mistake.

Privately, Zammit Lewis has been critical of the prime minister and members of his team, dismissing Abela’s leadership and labelling ministers as ‘inexperienced children’.

In an attempt to placate his disgruntlement, Abela nominated Zammit Lewis to the European Court of Justice.

However, Zammit Lewis did not make the cut and was found to be unprepared to take up the €300,000 a year post.