“Are the Labour and Nationalist Parties looking into why so many of their erstwhile voters are so disenchanted?”, Evarist Bartolo, former Labour Education minister wrote in an opinion piece, “Or are they happy to be a republic built on sand that we bury our head in?”
In a flurry of virtue signaling, Bartolo quoted Pope Francis: “Honesty, justice, a sense of duty and transparency are the essential pillars of a mature civil society. May your commitment to eliminate illegality and corruption be strong… May you always cultivate legality and transparency which will enable the eradication of corruption and criminality.”
Evarist Bartolo knows exactly what the Pope is talking about. In 2018 four high officials reported a series of worrying claims about MCAST to him. A 2019 inquiry exposed an “endemic toxic system” at MCAST where recruitment of lecturing staff was controlled by Labour politicians and their wives. Telephone calls made by Parliamentary secretary Silvio Parnis, Anton Refalo’s wife, and the Office of the Prime minister ordered who should be recruited.
Marks obtained during recruitment interviews were altered to ensure Labour politicians’ recommended candidates were selected. Dozens of interview scorecards were altered with Tip-Ex. In just 6 months 57 different results were falsified. The top management of MCAST acknowledged the system of recommendations and actively participated in it. Silvio De Bono who was appointed MCAST head as soon as Labour gained power in 2013 admitted receiving a huge number of recommendations from OPM on who to recruit. He shamelessly admitted that “I used to pass the message to HR to take care of these candidates”.
When Evarist Bartolo ordered the inquiry he promised he would publish it once concluded. Bartolo, who now parrots Pope Francis’ call to “honesty, justice a sense of duty and transparency”, cynically released a brief statement on Maundy Thursday stating that the inquiry report was handed to the police. No newspapers are issued on Good Friday. Bartolo’s statement went unreported. The man who now shamelessly encourages others to “cultivate transparency” to eradicate corruption, hid that report. He broke his promise that he would publish it. He knew the best way to bury a report incriminating Labour politicians was to hand it to the police. For years FIAU reports on Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri’s alleged money laundering collected dust in the police commissioner’s drawer. Bartolo knew the report was safe there.
In August 2018 a senior MCAST official was forced out on leave after claims about serious abuse, including sexual abuse. Evarist Bartolo was asked to confirm this. The champion of transparency simply issued a reply through his Ministry stating “he has nothing to add to his statement and awaits outcomes from respective authorities”.
The investigation was only launched after Silvio De Bono, a close collaborator of Bartolo, resigned as MCAST President. De Bono had been reaping the benefits of his friendship with Bartolo for years. De Bono was made consultant to Evarist Bartolo. Simultaneously he was given several direct orders from Bartolo’s ministry, both on a personal basis as well as through his private consultancy firm IDEA. In the last semester of 2017 alone, De Bono was awarded over 50,000 euro in direct orders.
During that period, De Bono linked up with another of Labour’s unscrupulous inner core, Joseph Cuschieri, Malta Gaming Authority CEO, notorious for his relationship with Yorgen Fenech. In 2018, Cuschieri travelled with Yorgen Fenech on a lavish trip to Las Vegas, fully paid by Fenech, despite being a witness in a lawsuit brought against the MGA for issuing an alleged illegal extension for Fenech’s Portomaso casino concession. The man who oversaw that extension was Cuschieri, photographed bare-chested lounging on Fenech’s luxury yacht tightly embraced by the yacht’s owner. De Bono and Joseph Cuschieri jointly set up the pompously named European Gaming Institute of Malta.
A senior MCAST HR official claimed Silvio De Bono solicited a one-month salary commission from newly recruited MCAST lecturers. An inquiry board reported that when the official was asked to substantiate her claim she stated “it’s a joke”. That official, Josephine Abdilla, wrote a letter published in a local newspaper stating “I deny any joking on my part in the matter”. The inquiry accused Abdilla of creating traces of a crime that was never committed. But despite these conclusions, Abdilla continued to receive her full salary at least until 2021. Education ministry spokesperson Etienne St John, disgraced permanent secretary Frank Fabri and MCAST principal James Calleja repeatedly refused to explain why Abdilla remained on full pay.
Meanwhile, MCAST was inundated with claims of bullying and injustices. Lecturing staff who should never have been recruited joined the College. Some were rapidly promoted through political pressure. An HR officer claimed that even James Calleja, the principal at MCAST was appointed on political instructions.
The most shocking revelations related to sexual misconduct by a “clique” of lecturing staff during a live-in session for students with intellectual disabilities. A carefully concealed inquiry concluded that “lecturers who were supposed to take care of the students (with intellectual and developmental disabilities) brought in their partners, stood naked metres away from the students and also had parties, drank alcohol and conducted activities of a sexual nature. Members of the same clique disappeared or deserted from work for personal service and sometimes even to travel”.
When MCAST vice principal, Vince Maione, relinquished his post, Evarist Bartolo the transparent was asked whether his departure was related to the abuse claims. Bartolo refused to answer.
As claims and counterclaims fly, some things are certain. For years Silvio de Bono ran a private institution, IDEA Academy, in direct competition with the public institution he led. Yet Evarist Bartolo recommended his re-appointment twice. MCAST was politically corrupted by “a system of endemic and toxic recommendations”. Bartolo buried those damning reports, protecting himself and his friend. It’s only because the report was presented in court, that we know about it.
So much for Bartolo’s transparency. Need he ask why voters are disenchanted?