Former president of the Malta Employers’ Association and former chairman of Public Broadcasting Services Michael Mallia died Monday, his son Stefano said.

Mallia, who also served as a director of Standard Publications Limited, was 77.

He was a board member on several companies, including national carrier Air Malta. He was head of the Employment Commission and a panel member of the industrial tribunal.

Mallia was also chairman of the Ghana Mission Foundation, which collected funds to build a hospital in Kumasi.

In the early 1980s, Mallia was also a great defender of Church schools at the time when the then Labour government attempted to close them down.