The appointment of Frank Fabri as general manager of the Institute of Tourism Studies has raised suspicions on many levels, the Union of Professional Educators said.

Fabri was until recently employed at the Education Ministry, and forced to leave after the UPE filed a criminal complaint following the Bogdanovic report. The Commissioner for Standards in Public Life George Hyzler had found that the awarding of a €15,000 contract to Daniel Bogdanovic by then Education Minister Justyne Caruana amounted to an “abuse of power”.

The UPE has several members working at ITS. Members are concerned that Dr Fabri might replicate at ITS the negative legacy he left behind at the Education Ministry, the UPE said in a statement.

Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo appears to have been blissfully unaware of or has totally disregarded the allegations surrounding Frank Fabri, the statement said. While educators have praised the current administration at the Ministry of Education for listening to the pleas of its employees, things have now taken a somewhat bizarre twist.

The UPE has several questions that need to be answered. It is the interest of the public and Union members to be informed about this appointment.

Was there a formal call of application for the position of ITS General Manager? Or was Frank Fabri the anointed and handpicked candidate for the position? Has the Public Service Commission (PSC) investigated the allegations that had been made? If so, has it published its findings? If not, why not?

In politics, transparency is a rare commodity, and Frank Fabri's appointment raises suspicions on many levels, the UPE said.

ITS employees are not in the public service but are in the public sector. The PSC would therefore not be able to intervene in any future investigations. It is now the Tourism Minister's responsibility to explain the cloud of suspicion that has descended on ITS, the union said.