Minister provides free food and chefs for Gozo feast, PN Deputy Mayor says ‘nothing wrong’

A traditional annual fundraising dinner, organised in the small village of Zebbug, Gozo, on the occasion of the feast of Santa Marija, went much better than usual for its organisers as most of the food, including pork and chicken, as well as its cooking and serving, was all provided free of charge, courtesy of Gozitan Agriculture Minister Anton Refalo.

While eyebrows were raised by many, as soon as it was discovered that the Minister had used the services of the public abattoir -better known as il-Biccerija – to provide these ‘free’ services in his constituency, one of the organisers, Daniel Cordina – the locality’s PN Deputy Mayor – defended the Minister’s actions and said that there was nothing wrong with his help.

As part of the traditional village feast of Santa Marija, the locality’s fireworks organisation – Ghaqda tan-Nar Marija Assunta, Zebbug – organised its annual dinner in the village square on 19 August.

All participants, mostly locals from the same village, paid €22 each for the annual meal. All proceeds from this occasion, as is usually the case, went to the organisation to cover part of the costs involved in the fireworks for the village feast.

Unlike other years, where the turnover generated was used to organise the same dinner, more profit ended up in the organisation’s pockets, as Minister Anton Refalo provided all the food and cooking needed – using public funds.

An entourage of ‘chefs’ from il-Biccerija crossed over to Gozo with vans packed with food, mainly meat products, and all the portable ovens necessary to cook and serve the Zebbug residents.

Minister Refalo made sure to attend the occasion and speak to as many constituents as possible, now that general elections are getting closer.

His main district rival, Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri, also made his presence felt, ensuring that those present were aware that his ministry had sponsored the occasion as well.

Even PN leadership contenders Adrian Delia and Alex Borg found the time to visit the Zebbug dinner.

After the meal was over, the same organisation posted a social media message thanking the Minister and Stefan Cachia, the Director General of the abattoir, for the complimentary food and chef service.

The Director General of the abattoir did not reply to questions from The Shift when asked to state who took the initiative to provide free products and chefs for this occasion.

The Shift also asked Cachia whether it was normal for his government department to provide free food and chefs to explain why the abattoir employs chefs in the first place, given that it’s a slaughterhouse, and to provide a breakdown of the costs involved in this ‘donation’.

Minister Refalo also did not reply to questions.

While many commentators on social media described the latest ministerial intervention in Gozo as another case of nepotism and abuse of power, not everyone was in agreement.

Minister Refalo’s biggest defence came from Daniel Cordina, the Nationalist Deputy Mayor of Zebbug, and one of the dinner’s organisers.

Criticising those who found Minister Refalo’s intervention censurable, Cordina insisted that “he could not understand why the government should not help voluntary organisations”.

Cordina did not say whether the Minister personally funded the dinner or used public funds for a social activity in his electoral constituency.

Still, for the PN Deputy Mayor, Minister Refalo’s “help” was to be commended.

Labour has three Ministers hailing from the Gozo district competing for the same voting base. Stories of nepotism and the abuse of public funds have become the norm.