The probe into the corruption allegations at the Foundation for Tomorrow's Schools is a very serious matter. Reports in the press indicate that the invoices, issued for the construction work carried out by the Foundation at various schools, are being meticulously examined in order that information which might be of relevance to the investigation is gathered.
Of particular interest is the news item that the financing of a newly constructed block of flats at Rabat is under the spotlight. The block of flats, still in shell form, belongs to the person under investigation. It is being emphasised that the fruits of the alleged corruption may have financed the Rabat development. The said site is covered by development permit PA1215/15 as amended by subsequent application PA 0260/16. The Planning Authority permitted the demolition of the previous dwelling on the site and the construction of a five-floor residential block, inclusive of a penthouse and a semi-basement garage in its stead. According to the Planning Authority website, the applicant was Edward Caruana and work on the site commenced on 19 July 2015.
So far, the press, in part echoing PN spokespersons, have concentrated firepower on whether the Education Minister Evarist Bartolo acted swiftly enough to ensure that the matter be placed under investigation.
While the obvious course of immediate action is for the police to investigate in order to identify whether the alleged corruption took place or not, in my view the problems run much deeper than that. Essentially, the issue is one of bad governance through the use of the "person of trust" - a 21st century version adaptation of a system of political clientelism.
A "person of trust" in Maltese political jargon generally signifies that the person has a political allegiance to the politician who trusts him. Actually, however, it should have a completely different meaning: that the person so appointed is beyond reproach, rather than his being in the Minister's good books. In fact the person under investigation (Edward Caruana) who was entrusted with procurement duties in the Foundation for Tomorrow's Schools was a political canvasser of Education Minister Evarist Bartolo. Incidentally, Mr Caruana's brother too is a trusted person: he was appointed Permanent Secretary of the Education Ministry. We do remember the manner in which all Permanent Secretaries in office were swept aside way back in March 2013 to be replaced by a team of "persons of trust".
The engagement of "politically" persons of trust is not a matter peculiar to Evarist Bartolo's Ministry, or to the government of which he forms part. While it has been going on for a number of years, it has been done on a much larger scale since the 2013 General Election. In most cases, unfortunately, the political trustworthiness of an individual makes short shrift of meritocracy which should be the foundation stone of a serious public administration.
The trusted person mechanism is circumventing the recruitment procedures of the public service, thus excluding competent and qualified persons for the simple reason that they are not of the required political colour.
Through the recruitment of persons of trust, clientelism is devaluing years of preparation to obtain qualifications. The end result is not just demotivation: corruption and arrogance are the two other most obvious symptoms.
The Ombudsman has commented various times on the negative impact which excessive direct appointments in the public sector have due to lack of transparency. Yet he is consistently ignored.
Under the spotlight Minister Evarist Bartolo has said that he feels betrayed.
We all have the same feeling that those who preached meritocracy are using political trustworthiness in order to ensure that practising clientelism is done in an efficient a manner as possible.
[email protected],
http://carmelcacopardo.wordpress.com
Mr Cacopardo is an architect and civil engineer and Deputy Chairman of Alternattiva Demokratika - The Green Party in Malta.