After the second external call for applications closed on 26 July, persistent rumours at PBS were that Alex Attard, news editor at Media.Link (the Nationalist Party media company), had applied for the job and was “strongly tipped” for the post.

However, speaking to this newspaper on Friday, Mr Attard categorically denied these rumours. “I have not applied for the Manager News post or for any other post at PBS,” he said.

Meanwhile, the process to fill the posts of journalist/editor in the newsroom started this week with interviews of people identified by the Employment and Training Corporation (ETC) from the list of registered unemployed.

Sources said, however, that only one person in Part One of the register of the unemployed has been identified by the ETC as suitable for an interview. If no suitable candidates are found in Part Two of the register either, then an external call for applications is expected to be issued.

They said the matter has become more serious after one of two employees who had been accepted as journalist/editor – Tony Dimech – refused the appointment and will take early retirement instead.

Thus there are five journalist/editor vacancies that still need to be filled.

There are around four employees who have decided not to accept the appointment and have opted either for early retirement or for re-deployment with the government, sources said.

Meanwhile, a number of those employees who were considering taking their case to the Ombudsman after they were not selected have now filed their complaints. Some of them have already received an acknowledgement from the Ombudsman’s office, sources said.

There were seven employees who had expressed their intention of taking this step, but employees who choose one of the four early retirement schemes cannot take their case to the Ombudsman.

The agreement signed between the government and the GWU on 24 April states that by opting for a retirement scheme, the employee would be making a full and final settlement and could make no further clams on the company.

Meanwhile, there is no sign yet that the newsroom staff who asked for early retirement have been released, in fact they will not be allowed to leave “for the time being”, sources said.

A clear sign of this, sources said, was that the stop leave directive in the newsroom has been lifted and two journalists have been given one and a half months leave.

Other sources, though, pointed out that the leave actually granted was less than they had originally asked for.

However, this situation is creating “serious problems” for those who have already found a job outside the company and now find themselves “in the dark” about their future.

“After two and a half months, these employees should at least have been told whether they would be gtanted early retirement or not.

“This is inhuman,” they added. “In other places where early retirement was offered (such as the shipyards) it was granted within a reasonable period of time.”

Finally, there is still an air of uncertainty as to where the employees who want to be re-deployed with the government will actually be placed. Sources said a meeting was held between the GWU and the government on Thursday to discuss the matter.

“We do not want to end up like the ex-MDC workers, receiving our pay at home and not doing anything,” an employee who is going to be re-deployed with the government told The Malta Independent on Sunday.

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A third call for applications, which close on 19 August, will be issued shortly, The Malta Independent on Sunday has learnt.

After the second external call for applications closed on 26 July, persistent rumours at PBS were that Alex Attard, news editor at Media.Link (the Nationalist Party media company), had applied for the job and was “strongly tipped” for the post.

However, speaking to this newspaper on Friday, Mr Attard categorically denied these rumours. “I have not applied for the Manager News post or for any other post at PBS,” he said.

Meanwhile, the process to fill the posts of journalist/editor in the newsroom started this week with interviews of people identified by the Employment and Training Corporation (ETC) from the list of registered unemployed.

Sources said, however, that only one person in Part One of the register of the unemployed has been identified by the ETC as suitable for an interview. If no suitable candidates are found in Part Two of the register either, then an external call for applications is expected to be issued.

They said the matter has become more serious after one of two employees who had been accepted as journalist/editor – Tony Dimech – refused the appointment and will take early retirement instead.

Thus there are five journalist/editor vacancies that still need to be filled.

There are around four employees who have decided not to accept the appointment and have opted either for early retirement or for re-deployment with the government, sources said.

Meanwhile, a number of those employees who were considering taking their case to the Ombudsman after they were not selected have now filed their complaints. Some of them have already received an acknowledgement from the Ombudsman’s office, sources said.

There were seven employees who had expressed their intention of taking this step, but employees who choose one of the four early retirement schemes cannot take their case to the Ombudsman.

The agreement signed between the government and the GWU on 24 April states that by opting for a retirement scheme, the employee would be making a full and final settlement and could make no further clams on the company.

Meanwhile, there is no sign yet that the newsroom staff who asked for early retirement have been released, in fact they will not be allowed to leave “for the time being”, sources said.

A clear sign of this, sources said, was that the stop leave directive in the newsroom has been lifted and two journalists have been given one and a half months leave.

Other sources, though, pointed out that the leave actually granted was less than they had originally asked for.

However, this situation is creating “serious problems” for those who have already found a job outside the company and now find themselves “in the dark” about their future.

“After two and a half months, these employees should at least have been told whether they would be gtanted early retirement or not.

“This is inhuman,” they added. “In other places where early retirement was offered (such as the shipyards) it was granted within a reasonable period of time.”

Finally, there is still an air of uncertainty as to where the employees who want to be re-deployed with the government will actually be placed. Sources said a meeting was held between the GWU and the government on Thursday to discuss the matter.

“We do not want to end up like the ex-MDC workers, receiving our pay at home and not doing anything,” an employee who is going to be re-deployed with the government told The Malta Independent on Sunday.

[email protected]