“I am committed to the highest levels of transparency in decision making, in the interest of good governance,” Minister Aaron Farrugia pompously announced.
On 19 January 2020, after disgraced former PM Joseph Muscat was forced out of office, Farrugia, then Environment and Planning Minister, bragged he would start publishing a register of all his meetings with stakeholders, lobbyists and businesses to improve transparency and good governance.
“I think the time has come to shift the focus on promoting justice, good governance,” he announced.
Farrugia’s transparency register failed to materialise. Farrugia came up with all sorts of excuses. “I’m just waiting for the outcome of a proposal being drafted by the Standards Commissioner for a government-wide lobby register,” he bluffed in November 2020.
“I have set up an electronic register which logs the names of people who come to meet me or my secretariat and today I am in a position to know who I met on any particular day,” Farrugia bragged. Shame that only he knows. Nobody else does. His transparent register remains secret.
He refused to give newspapers a list of people he met. More excuses. “I have the system in place but I do not want to eclipse the work being done by the Standards Commissioner who is drawing up a proposal for a lobby register”. His government was so anxious not to eclipse the Standards Commissioner that they didn’t even bother turning up for the Commissioner’s launch of new transparency standards.
The European Commission proposed a European Transparency Register in 2016. Labour promised a Transparency register in its 2017 Electoral Manifesto “L-aqwa zmien”.
Farrugia promised one in 2020. His transparency registry is so transparent, nobody’s seen it. Farrugia’s conveniently ‘forgotten’ about it.
Two short years later Aaron Farrugia, the champion of transparency, is covering up corruption allegations at Infrastructure Malta (IM). IM issued 1 million euro in direct orders in just six months to companies linked to the brother of IM’s head of implementation, Noel Vella.
Darna Properties, a real estate agency co-owned by Jonathan, Noel Vella’s 32-year-old brother, was awarded three separate direct orders amounting to hundreds of thousands of euro for road works in just 6 months. The Shift revealed that Jonathan Vella is also involved in another infrastructure company through his partner Amanda Muscat, the registered owner of a third of the company’s shareholding. That company, JV Infrastructure, was awarded another 350,000 euro direct order to maintain rubble walls and resurface roads in the same period. IM refused to provide a list of direct orders the two companies, linked to Jonathan Vella, were awarded since his brother was appointed IM head of implementation .
Minister Aaron Farrugia, “committed to the highest levels of transparency”, not only failed to call in the police to investigate, but refused to answer questions about the 1 million euro scandal. The Shift reported that Farrugia was handed evidence proving a system of graft behind the million euro direct orders. But instead of taking the decisions “in the interest of good governance”, Farrugia keeps covering up
That’s not the first time Farrugia’s taken rotten decisions. He literally stuffed the Board of Transport Malta with his own canvassers, supporters and constituents. Practically none of them have any expertise, training or experience in transport. As the country faces total gridlock and standstill traffic, Farrugia completely abandons good governance.
The moment Farrugia was given responsibility for Transport, he immediately replaced all the previous TM board members except one - Mariella Agius, a close associate of Michelle Muscat.
He didn’t just put one or two of his canvassers and supporters on the board where their incompetence might have been diluted by the presence of experts in the field. No. Farrugia just stacked the whole board with his loyalists.
He appointed Jason Mangani, his personal canvasser, a government employee seconded to Hamrun Spartans FC. He appointed Godwin Grech, another canvasser. There’s Luca Gatt, a Hamrun Spartans fanatic. And Lara Azzopardi, a nurse and TV actress, whose mother, Angela Agius, presented programmes on ONE TV. There’s Labour Deputy Mayor of Rabat, Matthew Chetcuti. And Celine Vella, a diehard Labour activist from Santa Venera. And Liam Pace, a Valletta Labour local councillor and Labour Party activist who works as a person of trust in the education minister’s secretariat. As deputy chairman Farrugia appointed Hamrun’s mayor Christian Sammut, who openly supported Farrugia.
Where is Aaron Farrugia’s good governance? Or his promised transparency? He was chastised by the Speaker for failing to turn up in parliament to answer questions about the shocking assault of a helpless motorist by TM officers. He refuses to answer questions about alleged corruption of hundreds of thousands of euro at IM.
And where is his long-promised transparency register? Was that 2017 Labour electoral promise simply another con?
Like his colleagues, Minister Aaron Farrugia is in a rat race. He flagrantly abuses his power to reward his canvassers with taxpayers’ money. He entices others into his fold luring them away from his Labour rivals contesting his districts. The more brazen, the more abusive his appointments, the clearer the message. Farrugia has no scruples, he’s not afraid to flaunt his chumocracy. He couldn’t care less about criticism from Labour’s grassroots. If you help him, he’ll take care of you. His message is clear - it pays to get on Farrugia’s team. Aaron will take care of you if you take care of him.
Labour has completely abandoned all pretences. They’re not even pretending anymore. Their only interest is their own. They cultivate their support base to eclipse their rivals, making it impossible for the Leader to overlook them when it comes to ministerial appointments. They know the best way to secure votes is by regaling their canvassers, their constituents and their supporters with money that belongs to the nation. To hell with transparency. Good riddance to good governance.