The final round of interviews for the position of chief executive officer of Heritage Malta was held yesterday, with a decision expected by the end of the week, The Malta Independent can exclusively confirm.

Sources who spoke on condition of anonymity said that five candidates had been short-listed for the position of CEO, which became vacant after the popular Antoinette Caruana resigned to take up a post in the private sector.

Ms Caruana is credited with bringing about much-needed changes in the organisation, and running it along private sector lines.

The sources also confirmed that the interviews for the post are being conducted at the former Centre for Restoration at Bighi, Kalkara, as far as possible from Heritage Malta staff based in Valletta.

The interviews are being conducted by Heritage Malta chairman Mario Tabone and the permanent secretary of the Tourism and Culture Ministry, Peter Portelli (former personal assistant to President Edward Fenech Adami).

Among the applicants for the post is former PN

candidate and Valletta Rehabilitation Committee chairman Ray Bondin, whose experience in cultural matters would make him ideal for the position. However, the sources could not confirm if Mr Bondin had been selected from the final five short-

listed candidates.

In the meantime, other sources within Heritage Malta said that the mood inside the organisation is somewhat despondent, as declining tourism figures appear to have taken their toll on attendance at the organisation’s museums and other sites – the main source of income.

In fact, figures published by the National Statistics Office (NSO) earlier this month confirm that museum attendance in June 2006 was down by 4.2 per cent from the preceding year.

Additionally, others spoke of heritage being “in decline” due to the lack of interest on the part of both foreigners and locals, which is having a further debilitating effect on morale within the organisation.