A spokesman for the ministry confirmed that “The Ministry for Industry, Investment and Information Technology is aware that the chairman of PBS has taken certain decisions that are not in line with ministry policies.

“A meeting between the minister and the chairman was held last Thursday. MIIIT, while recognising that a restructuring exercise on the ground is far different from one on paper, nevertheless wishes to emphasise that policy parameters are paramount.

“In view of the situation that has evolved, the minister will be reporting to Cabinet and suggesting further action that should be taken.”

Informed sources told The Malta Independent that there were three instances where decisions taken by PBS are deemed unacceptable by the ministry. These are:

• The appointment of Birkirkara FC coach Stephen Azzopardi (who also works as financial controller at PBS) to be Head of Sports, thus leading to a clear conflict of interests where his team is involved.

• The case of a former mechanic at PBS who took early retirement from PBS but is now servicing the PBS vehicles he used to service before, in a private capacity.

• The case of an engineer on the Gharghur antenna who also took early retirement but who is again servicing the antenna as before, in a private capacity.