Project Green CEO’s daughter put on OPM’s payroll

Katrina Cuschieri, the daughter of former MFSA chief and Project Green CEO Joseph Cuschieri, has landed yet another government job, this time within the Office of the Prime Minister, The Shift has learned.

After occupying a series of government-funded positions over the past four years, Cuschieri has been recruited as an adviser at the OPM and posted to the Vision 2050 directorate, the unit responsible for coordinating the government’s long-term strategy.

Vision 2050 was heavily promoted by Labour in the run-up to the recent general elections and is considered by critics to have been little more than a taxpayer-funded marketing exercise.

OPM sources familiar with the appointment told The Shift that, once again, the position was filled without any competitive recruitment process, allowing Cuschieri to bypass the normal procedures required for public sector appointments.

Despite being in her 20s and having no significant experience or expertise, the young Cuschieri was still handed a lucrative package funded by taxpayers.

Her latest move marks yet another chapter in a rapid succession of taxpayer-funded roles that have repeatedly raised questions over preferential treatment and the influence of her father, Joseph Cuschieri, the disgraced former Malta Financial Services Authority chief who has nevertheless continued to secure senior government appointments under the Labour administration.

The Shift previously revealed how Katrina Cuschieri, who also happens to be the granddaughter of former Foreign Affairs Minister and President of Malta George Vella, was first recruited by Energy Minister Miriam Dalli shortly after completing her studies.

She was then awarded a substantial pay rise and later moved to Infrastructure Malta after being handpicked by CEO Steve Ellul.

She also serves on the board of Clearflow plc, another government company falling under Miriam Dalli’s political responsibility.

Joseph Cuschieri himself had accumulated a string of government roles despite his forced resignation from the MFSA following various scandals, including his appointment as Project Green CEO and as a policy adviser to then-Parliamentary Secretary Keith Azzopardi Tanti.

His private consultancy, CP Advisory, also saw its other associates secure government employment.

The latest appointment of Cuschieri’s daughter is also raising questions about transparency within the Office of the Prime Minister.

Despite repeated requests, the OPM has consistently refused to disclose who forms part of the Vision 2050 Directorate. It has also rejected a Freedom of Information request filed by The Shift seeking the contracts of those employed within the unit and their respective roles.

The Vision 2050 directorate was until recently headed by Ronald Mizzi, a permanent secretary currently facing criminal charges in connection with the Vitals and Steward hospitals concession.

Another senior official, former Labour reporter Anthony David Gatt, was also given a role within the directorate under Mizzi but was recently removed as part of an ongoing reshuffle at the OPM.