Minister Evarist Bartolo today said he would be willing to publish the emails sent to him by Philip Rizzo, former CEO of the Foundation for Tomorrow's Schools, who resigned claiming corruption in the procurement process of school furniture supply contracts involving former canvasser Edward Caruana.
Speaking to journalists following a school visit in Mosta, the minister said he would also be willing to take Mr Rizzo to court should the issue pursue. Asked if he feels politically responsible for Edward Caruana's actions, Mr Bartolo said that he would feel responsible if he did not take any action.
The minister also insisted he would not be offering his resignation because he feels that he handled the allegations of corruption in a good way.
Mr Rizzo (below) has made a number of accusations against Mr Bartolo and his permanent secretary Joseph Caruana in his resignation letter submitted some days ago, which the minister argues are baseless and false. Allegations of corruption have also been levelled against the FTS procurement officer Edward Caruana, the brother of Mr Bartolo's permanent secretary.
On Saturday, Mr Rizzo challenged Evarist Bartolo to publish the email correspondence between the two.
The minister insists he never withheld any information or tried to silence or help a former canvasser. "I have always told my staff to not accept anything which goes against good governance. i feel hurt by these allegations, this is the only way i can describe how I feel right now." Mr Bartolo admitted to reports that he had heard of corruption allegations by Edward Caruana in April, but did not take action as he was waiting for more information.
He also explained that he flagged the irregularities in August once he had tangible evidence. "When informed about any irregularities, I told Rizzo to withhold any payments. But to take action, I needed tangible evidence. I cannot be the judge and jury without the necessary evidence" Mr Bartolo said, adding that Mr Rizzo is a very impulsive person.
The minister said that once Mr Rizzo had flagged any irregularities, he ordered Mr Caruana to be left out of any FTS related work.
The Minister spoke to journalists following a visit to Maria Regina School in Mosta as part of the European Vocational Skills Week. He explained that this particular school already teaches five vocational subjects with over 1,500 students in Malta deciding to choose such subjects.
Yesterday, Minister Bartolo took to Facebook to publically label former Foundation for Tomorrow's Schools (FTS) CEO Philip Rizzo a "primadonna". Several attempts were made throughout the day to contact Mr Bartolo and ask him whether he is ready to publish the e-mail that he first received over the corruption allegations, and what his reaction is to Mr Rizzo's challenges to sue him for defamation or libel. Such attempts proved unsuccessful.
The Minister accused him of trying to play-act as the "knight on a white horse fighting wrongdoing when in fact he is a primadonna who changes facts in a way that serves his interests and makes him look good, while at the same time tarnishing the names of those who do not obey him".