During yesterday's sitting of the Public Accounts Committee in Parliament, Government representatives blocked the Committee from continuing to hear the testimony of Film Commissioner Johann Grech and voted against allowing him to testify in another session scheduled for next week, the Nationalist Party said Thursday.

The Government MPs adopted this position following a heated meeting in which they did everything possible to obstruct proceedings, effectively shielding Johann Grech from answering questions posed by Opposition members on the committee.

Throughout the session, it became increasingly evident that Johann Grech failed to respond to various questions concerning the expenditure of public funds, the PN said.

For instance, he was unable to confirm the total cost of a ten-minute promotional film in which he also appeared as an actor. While he mentioned a figure of €560,000, he failed to clarify whether this was the final total cost.

When questioned about a discrepancy of €7 million between the recurrent expenditure listed in the 2024 Budget and the actual amount requested by the Film Commissioner, Grech was unable to provide an answer.

He also failed to respond to issues raised in the Auditor General's report, which noted that the Commissioner had requested €24 million to build three sound stages, offices, a deep water tank and a shallow one, workshops, and ancillary buildings to provide further services. Not only did none of this materialise, but when the Commissioner submitted a design (without costings) for just one sound stage, he could not explain how the design tender was issued or who carried it out.

In a session marked by the Film Commissioner's "theatrical presentation" and excessive spending on printed material for Committee members, it was clear that Grech, under oath, was deliberately evading questions.

The PN said it condemned the behaviour of the Film Commissioner, the abuse of power by Government MPs to halt an investigation requested by the PN members of the Committee, and the clear effort to withhold information from the public regarding the use of taxpayer funds.