The Transport Ministry is spending more than €700,000 a year on consultancies as traffic congestion nightmares are becoming a daily occurrence and with road projects being severely overrun in terms of both timings and costs.
Tabling a list of the ministry’s current consultants in parliament, Minister Aaron Farrugia said his ministry is engaging 36 consultants (see list here) whose salaries and perks surpass more than €700,000 a year.
The list includes Tia Reljic, a former MaltaToday reporter who is on a €61,000 package including a €14,000 ‘expertise allowance’, Cory Greenland, a former GWU official who receives consultancies from a large number of government ministries, and Joseph Sultana, a traffic management expert being paid €35 an hour.
Most of the ministry’s consultants are in the aviation sector and include former Air Malta employees, friends and former colleagues of the Civil Aviation Director General Charles Pace.
A former Air Malta pilot, Pace cashed in on a retirement package from the national airline soon after Labour returned to power. He was later appointed to the Transport Malta board of directors and then as the new head of civil aviation.
Minister Farrugia is reportedly on bad terms with the Prime Minister after a massive fudge at Transport Malta. After announcing that changes at the helm of Transport Malta were imminent last March, he failed to take action on CEO Brigadier Jeffrey Curmi who, The Shift was informed, was resisting being replaced.
Curmi was appointed CEO in June 2022 on the direct instruction of Prime Minister Robert Abela. The Shift revealed he was given a €115,000 annual salary until June 2025 on a three-year definite contract.
Curmi made headlines in 2013 when he received four consecutive accelerated promotions within six months to become the armed forces’ Brigadier.
Transport Minister Aaron Farrugia and Brigadier Jeffrey Curmi.
Since Farrugia’s announcement, weeks passed without any news about Curmi, with Farrugia telling parliament that changes would be announced “in due course”.
Curmi was replaced last Saturday by Yachting Malta chairman Jonathan Borg.
A short statement issued by the Department of Information did not specify whether Curmi had resigned or if he was removed. The minister merely “thanked Brigadier Jeffrey Curmi for his work”.
Dan il-pajjiz sar pajjiz tal-ħniezer.
Din hi l-aqwa Prova ta’ dan il-Ministru nkompetenti. Ibqa’ ahleb u thanzer Aaron.
Bla dubju ta’ xejn Aaron Farrugia mhuwiex kapaci.
Barra minn hekk li jkollok CEO bhal Ivan. Falzon li dar kullimkien CEO ta’ Infrastructure Malta meta dan kull ma kien ufficcjal mal Airmalta (li ddahhal nahdem hemm il PN fil Gvern) ma jghinnx.
Postijiet bhal dawn nies kapaci trid mhux delettanti u fanfri bi flus il poplu.
Dear Minister, how is it possible to employ Transport consultants without declaring their areas of competence? Are they academically qualified in Transport studies and logistics? Have they experience in the varies disciplines if transport, being Aviation, Land and Maritime? I think not! Their primary and most valuable qualification is being a friend of friends. And we expect this country to progress……! What a joke!
What a shame they have such large sums for a hand full of people may be their most important qualifications are that of a PL supporter. So thousands for these but then the gov is being a miser with our hard working nurses and midwives They are being treated in the most disgusting manner. Today is workers day support the down trodden workers This gov does not care about the worker if it did they would be treated better and with respect and given their due . Stop treating workers like slaves either your way or you can replace those who fight for their rights by foreigners at a cheaper wage Cut the crap PL and stop saying that you are the worker’s party you always used the worker and the more gullible they were the better for you no wonder you call them names.
Quite right what you said and they are fine with the situation as it is. One can forget about Labour Day. It is just a bank holiday for either a day out or for cheering up the leaders of ‘Gahanistan’ in Malta. If they would fight for their rights and a better government, they would have to turn against their own party which isn’t going to happen.
The mess is that chaotic that not even the top rank from the Malta Forces was able to sort it out in military manners.
I think that the last person with decency and commitment to the working people who led the then MLP in the past was Paul Boffa. Then the self-admitted ‘revolutionary socialist’ forced him out and the fate of the workers in Malta was sealed with the direction to go irreversible. This party always used and abused her members and voters in order to promote the top ranks with all the profits and advantages.
When in the old days, reproaching the regime was met with a visit from the MLP thugs, in modern times, being called ‘Gahan’ as a sign of gratefulness by the PL instead. They have learnt to become immune to such things.
The Simple Simon syndrome is alive and well in this Gahan excuse for a government, no wonder the Mafia had little trouble in taking it over
Dan il ministru jista QODOD ID DAR HU NIBATULUIL PAGA ID DAR. EZEMPJU DR PAWLU SCRIHA LI NAHSEB GHANDU FUQ 70SENA TA XIEX U KONSULENT TAX XJUH FORSI? JEKK VERU IL PRIM MHUX KUNTENT DABBARLU RASU. VERU LI MHUX SE JIFHEM F KOLLOX IMMA GHANDU BZONN DAWN KOLLA?
PRIM IBDA NADDAF QABEL MA IKUN TARD WISQ
If there is a reason why these consultants are there simply for the cash. The complete mess Transport Malta is in.
If the minister intends to redeem himself, he should tell us who is being consulted for what , how they are being paid and for what have they been paid.
Who of these consultants is advising the Minister about from where the Ministry cars should be rented from. Is being a criminal a qualification for a supplier.
Then publish all the Magisterial Inquires that dealt with serious road accidents.
What has been done about them.
Transport Malta employees involved in crimes and are still being paid despite suspended ,effectively on paid holiday. The LESA Tickets handed to cars rented from a rental company , whose owner POCKETED the millions in fines , while the fines were erased from TM’s books. Driving Licences dished out according to a minister’s servant whims. Were the licences cancelled?
Another useless bottom feeder putting all his (unqualified) mates on the g’ment payroll
THIS IS ABSOLUTELY CRIMINAL.
The Minister, like a director in a commercial entity, is responsible for mismanagement and wrongful trading.
The minister’s primary responsibility is to minister properly and fairly in the interest of the common good. This is the substance of his oath to the Constitution.
In employing 36 consultants and committing the treasury to Euro 700,000 yearly, he has the sacrosant duty to prove the value for money aspect of the whole transaction, and I ask:
1. Was a proper tender issued for these consultancy services?
2. What were the specific services requested?
3. Was an independent tender committee appointed to consider the proposals?
4. Was a detailed contract for services drawn up by experts in the relative consultancy field, and was the contract signed by both parties?
5. Were performance criteria established together with a periodic performance review?
6. In view that this embraces a financial measure, was the Minister of Finance consulted and agreement formally given both for the human resources required as well as for the cost to ensure that this falls within the Ministry’s budget as approved by Parliament?
These are just a few considerations, and I challenge the Minister to respond genuinely to these questions in the interest of accountability, transparency and equity.
Looks like you are in for a long wait with your demand to have all your questions being answered.
Neither of the ministers is inclined to even reflect on his / her conduct. Nobody ever sees any wrongdoing because they are not aware of it, all is fine and the country belongs to the party as much as the part is the country and the leader is not to be questioned, as well as the other top ranks and they all always know that is best for them, but not for the country.
I wonder what the 36 consultants really have so plenty of work to do that it is necessary to have them in the first place. One can first create a mess by appointing professionally inapt people with top jobs and then change them with other incompetent ones in order to administer the chaos and never get to solve it. Probably this shouldn’t be ever solved in order to keep the jobs and the people on the payroll and thus secure PL votes.
If there is a problem, go tell it to your PL MP to convey it to the top. If you got the door slamed into your face instead of having the problem solved, pity the day you dared to ask. Politics in modern day ‘Socialist Malta’, the ‘real existing one’ which cannot be distinguished from that of the worst greedy capitalists anymore.
“Traffic minister employs 36 consultants”– because he is incapable of doing the job by himself.
It looks like disguised bribes to me …
Min qed jithallas 5/hr u overtime ma jezistiex, jekk ma jogghbokx jidhol indjan flokok u min mhallas 140,000 mit taxxi ghal xejn, hlief li laburist . T taxxi mhux wirt jew rigal, ghanna dritt nkunu nafu fejn u ghaliex qed jintefqu
Then came Zammit Lewis after the parliamentary speeches by Adrian Delia and Aaron Farrugia. He really made an ass out of himself. EZL simply forgot that his Party in Government simply continued on what Austin Gatt had initiated . This corrupt government did not even change the name from Arriva to Nexia , too busy with Panama .
Tia Relijic a policy constant with TM with a yearly wage of 61,241euro 😉
This list begs the question…..there are two consultants pocketing 235,000 in consultancy fees every year. What are they possibly doing to justify such an expense ?