We have lost the best people from the disciplined forces, and this situation needs to be addressed, PN MP Beppe Fenech Adami said today.

The PN last week announced that should it be elected to government, it would allow members of the disciplined forces who reach the end of their 25-years of service to continue to work in the corps, while keeping a salary and receiving their service pension.

Currently, these members who continue working do not get the pension.

Elaborating on the anomaly, Fenech Adami said that currently as the policy stands, when an officer of the disciplined forces decides to retire after the service pension mandatory- 25 years, they are immediately given their pension, whereas if they decide to keep their current position they are not entitled to such pension.

He said that if a former officer in disciplined forces were to apply for another job within the government, they would still be entitled to their 25-year service pension together with their regular pay.

Fenech Adami said that it believes that this is unfair and is pushing people to leave disciplined forces, where they could get a salary above their pension.

We have lost the best people from the armed forced and police departments because of this, he said.

The MP said that there were a number of members of disciplined forces who were very unhappy in their position and decided to leave before completing their 25 years of service. He said that the country is suffering as it is not attracting the best people for the industry anymore.

PN MP Graziella Galea said that the PN’s investment in the disciplined forces means an investment in the Maltese society on the whole.

She explained how with the mentioned proposal, workers of the disciplined forces will be more determined to stay and do their job.

“Disciplined bodies should have workers who have practically given their lives for this purpose. There should be an investment in an experienced person because we want the best people for the industry,” she said.

The PN will also see that police stations remain open 24/7 and for there to be more police patrolling.

Answering questions by the media Fenech Adami said that during the last two years the police have been cut around 22,000 extra duty hours and 24,000 hours in overtime.

In answering another question, he said that as a Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee, he wants sittings involving MP Konrad Mizzi to be more serene. The PAC is currently questioning Mizzi on the Electrogas power station deal.

“Konrad Mizzi has three options. The first one is not to answer to questions, the second is to answer and not say the truth whilst the third is to answer and say the truth. We have a situation where Konrad Mizzi is coming to the PAC sittings with a clear intention to disrupt the meetings and proceedings themselves. We have a witness who is hostile and does not want to answer questions when he knows that he will be shooting himself in the foot. Naturally within our own limitations we will continue to do our job to uncover the truth,” he said.