A proper independent audit of all job roles and responsibilities within government departments, entities, and authorities, as well as of all those employed through service providers within the public sector must be done, the CEO of the Malta Chamber of Commerce Marthese Portelli said.

Portelli said that this should include the jobs which are directly registered on public payroll, as well as the others made available through service provision.

The Malta Independent on Sunday spoke with Portelli to discuss chamber’s pre-budget document, which includes 250 proposals summed up in four main points which address what needs to be done for the country to move forward, as well as recent emerging issues.

Portelli was asked about the practice of clientelism in the country, on which point The Malta Chamber said that it expects the government to adopt a zero-tolerance policy against abuse.

Over the past weeks, Malta has been hit by two major scandals which have rocked the people’s trust in services provided by the government and its entities. Hundreds of people have received disability benefits they were not entitled to, while a racket to help driving test applicants obtain their licence was also exposed. Asked about the latter, Prime Minister Robert Abela defended the scheme saying that Labour politicians and customer care employees are just doing their job.

In her reply, Portelli said that “we want a functioning civil service, we want functioning government authorities and agencies, free from undue political and partisan interference. If the public service functions properly and efficiently, there will not be the need of any ministerial customer care. The basis of everything is having a good governance structure in place, and making sure that everyone is operating diligently in the right way. Practices propagating a culture of clientelism that increases inefficiency and lack of transparency need to stop”.

She said that in terms of good governance, the chamber has been advocating for a number of changes that need to be introduced, including taking stock of the current job roles and responsibilities to identify areas of duplication, streamline processes, eliminate unnecessary bureaucratic layers to improve efficiency and make sure that the skills and expertise of public sector employees are being used in the best way possible. One should also look into the possibility of seconding surplus personnel to the private sector.

“Apart from that, we are also insisting that there needs to be a cap on the number of persons holding a position of trust that are appointed by every government. There needs to be full transparency on who the persons of trust are, why they have been appointed, who they are serving, and the terms and conditions of their contracts,” Portelli said.

Given the recent government scandals emerging, another employers’ body, the MEA, has described the Prime Minister’s defence of the system as “an invitation to anarchy”. Is the chamber on the same page?

“What is wrong cannot be described or disguised otherwise ,” Portelli said.

Benefitting from social benefits to which one is not entitled to, is wrong. Being granted a driving licence improperly is wrong too. Both the facilitator and the beneficiary are in the wrong.

“There needs to be a zero-tolerance approach, things need to be done properly and fairly. You cannot have a system where you need to go to a politician in order to get something which is rightfully yours,” Portelli said. It is even worse to go to a politician to get what is not rightfully yours.

Portelli explained that the business community often experiences lack of transparency and an unlevel playing field when it comes to public procurement, which is why the chamber is calling for a complete overhaul of the current public procurement processes.

“We have several proposals on this. For example we are insisting on publishing a procurement outlook, which needs to be published at least six months in advance. Why is there this need? It gives a good indication of the government tenders to be issued in the coming months, giving ample time to all potential bidders to plan ahead and submit the best solutions/systems/services,” Portelli said.

She said that through this everyone will stand to gain. Government will have a wider option to choose from in terms of services and supplies, ensure a better return on its investment and rationalize public spending more effectively. Businesses will have a better opportunity to bid.

“We are also insisting on the importance of white-listing and eventually even black-listing,” Portelli said.

She said that another proposal the chamber is pushing is having a Public Contracts Register.

“What we're advocating in terms of this register is that we would like to make sure that every tender that is published and subsequently awarded, even those which are cancelled, are registered in this Contracts Register,” Portelli said.

She said that the chamber wants to do away completely with archiving, and in terms of information which needs to be available in the contracts register - apart from tender number, description, the value assigned to it and who got awarded the tender – the register should also include any variations to the contracts, modifications, any disputes registered, milestones that need to be reached as well as the payments that have been made to date. This register should also include all direct orders.

Portelli was asked about the chamber’s insistence that summer half-days for public sector jobs should be stopped.

“For example, customs should be operating on a 24/7 basis, given that we are competing with countries which have different time-zones, and those who do operate 24/7. There is also the fact that businesses usually operate from 8am to 4pm or 5pm and others which operate till later,” Portelli said.

She said that businesses suffer when government departments work on a half-day schedule. There are a number of services that could be easily digitalised, eliminating the need to physically go to government departments. Reassignment of responsibilities and shift rotations could also be considered.

“It needs a lot of thought and it will be challenging to implement. But if good will reigns and if it is mapped out properly, free from any political bias or thoughts on how many votes could potentially be won or lost, it can be done,” she said.

Portelli was asked about pensions and how the chamber could convince the government of a system where when people reach a certain age, they can continue working and receive a pension up until they are of pensionable age.

“We have a number of proposals. For example we are saying that there needs to be a quicker switch to tax-exempt statutory pensions. We are also saying that those who retire early from full-time employment should be allowed to work part-time, even if they are eligible to a pension before retirement age and have actually taken it.  With respect to those who turn 61 and are eligible to a reduced pension, these should be allowed to transition from employment to retirement by taking an increasing portion of the pension they are eligible for each year while gradually reducing working hours,” Portelli said.

She explained another proposal the chamber is pushing which entails the implementation of an auto-enrolment to pension schemes with an opt-out mechanism for employees, and attractive tax incentives for those who opt to contribute.

Portelli was asked about Air Malta, and if the chamber believes that Air Malta was mishandled over the last 20 years, leading to its closure. What could have been done better to save Air Malta?

The Air Malta saga has long been coming, she said, describing it as “mismanagement by various administrations”.

“We have a golden opportunity in front of us. Past mistakes cannot be repeated. Air Malta needs to be operated professionally, it cannot operate based on clientelism,” she said.

She said that like Air Malta there are other entities, which are not yet under the spotlight of the European Union, but chamber feels that government should start taking a serious look at their governance, operational efficiency and recruitment practices to avoid having them go through a fate similar to that of Air Malta.

“The chamber will be scrutinising and following closely the management of the new airline so as to ensure that what is currently being promised for the new airline, is actually implemented and maintained,” Portelli said.

She said that the chamber is insisting on the need for periodic reviews on the new airline’s operations to make sure that the targets set out are being met, that the airline is profitable, that any losses are identified early and addressed, that any inefficiencies are picked up and eliminated to the extent possible, and to look into opportunities which can increase the profitability of the new national airline.

When asked about which entities further need government’s attention, Portelli said that at the moment there is no way one can know exactly how many people are employed with and in the service of the public sector due to recruitment done on a temping basis or through third party employee provision. The independent audit on job roles and responsibilities would serve this purpose comprehensively.

“For example, Wasteserv. We would like to see how many people are truly employed with Wasteserv, what they are doing, if there could be better alignment in the way resources are used and whether more technology could be used to increase efficiency and efficacy,” Portelli said.

On the reduction of destinations for the new airline next year, from 37 to 17, Portelli said that the national airline's sustainability and its strategic importance in terms of connectivity for both business and social exigencies, such as flight operations related to healthcare and Just-In-Time provision of critical medicines need to be balanced. Portelli also made reference to issues with sea connectivity. Portelli said that government needs to step up and see if the country needs any other public service obligation contracts to help sustain Malta's economy, particularly in terms of competitiveness.

 

A second part of the interview will be carried tomorrow