Malcolm Agius Galea, the Parliamentary Secretary for Active Ageing, was removed from his position as Chairman of Parliament’s Health Committee after failing to convene a meeting for the past two years.
Labour Mosta MP Romilda Zarb replaced him on the orders of Prime Minister Robert Abela.
The Health Committee is supposed to be the most important forum in the House of Representatives to discuss pending health issues and scrutinise the government’s work progress in this crucial area.
However, for some reason, the Parliamentary Secretary has not found the time to call a single meeting since October 2023.
Speaking to The Shift, Committee member, PN MP Ian Vassallo, a podiatrist by profession, said that the opposition could not understand why no meetings were being held. He insisted that opposition MPs have, on various occasions, called on Agius to convene the committee due to pressing issues, but nothing has changed.
According to Parliament’s standing orders, it is the duty of the appointed Committee Chairman, who gets an extra remuneration to chair standing committees, to organise the agenda and call meetings.
Contacted by The Shift, the Parliamentary Secretary Agius Galea failed to explain why he had not called a meeting in two years.
Instead, he said: “The Health Committee now has a new Chairperson, and a meeting is already scheduled to take place next week.”
Aguis’s replacement at the helm of the Health Committee was made following an embarrassing ruling by the speaker.
In July, Vassallo asked the speaker to intervene as it was not clear why such an essential parliamentary committee continued to remain dormant.
Through a ruling, Speaker Anglu Farrugia noted the concerning situation and asked the Zebbug MP and Parliamentary Secretary to restart convening the committee.
Soon after, Agius was replaced by Romilada Zarb. The latter is a pharmcist and was given a job at the government’s Medicines Authority recently.
The first meeting of the Health Committee in two years is expected to take place in a few weeks. No agenda has been published yet.
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#Health Committee
#Ian Vassallo
#Malcolm Agius Galea
#parliament
#Romilda Zarb
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#Zebbug
Iva possibli li ma hemm hadd sura minnhom. Kollha parassiti, iridu jithallsu ghal xejn.
Agreed. Totally unfit for purpose. PIGS AND BLOOD SUCKERS, THE LOT OF THEM.
Dik hi r-raguni ghalfejn qeghdin fil-parlament. Tghid mhux ghal pajjiz!
I hope and pray that Ms Zarb will work towards outlawing permanent tattoo practices in Malta AND towards educating the general public about the immediate as well as long term health risks associated with “permanent ink” (so that people will think twice, trice, and then some more before getting “inked” abroad), with many other cosmetic practices, with recreational as well as medicinal cannabis use, with driving under the influence of certain prescription medicines (i.e. NOT just alcohol and other drugs) etc. The majority of patience STILL DO NOT READ THE PATIENT INFORMATION LEAFLETS BEFORE blindly “obeying doctor’s orders”.
What the heck is he being paid for then?
Can the extra remuneration as shown in the article be reclaimed? After all this payment was proved that it was absolutely for nothing. Just a gift.