The Malta Police Association has filed a judicial protest to demand payment for overtime to members who worked extra hours during the Valletta migration summit and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held last year.

The protest was filed against the principal permanent secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and the permanent secretary at the Home Affairs Ministry.

The protest was filed after several attempts made by the MPA for payment to be made have failed, the association said in a statement.

It said that some officers worked 150 hours of overtime during the two events, and they have still not been paid. The government is insisting that this is a matter of “disturbance allowance”, but in this case the officers were forced to work these extra hours.

The association said that such abuse should stop. If the police officers’ conditions of work document needs to be amended to rectify anomalies, then this should be done immediately.

Police officers for part of public service and should benefit from the basic conditions others benefit from. Every work deserves to be paid for, the association said.

It added that it is prepared to take all legal action needed for the situation to be settled.