Inquiry sees no wrongdoing in station's administration

An inquiry into the operation of Voice of the Mediterranean Radio has cleared the managing director, Richard Muscat from any wrong doing.

The inquiry was ordered by Foreign Minister Joe Borg and conducted by Foreign Ministry officials headed by Gaetan Naudi, permanent secretary.

Mr Muscat's actions has been the source of criticism by the opposition, and Labour's foreign and IT spokesman Leo Brincat in a statement yesterday kept up the attack, saying the report smacked of a cover-up and confirmed the Labour Party's call for an independent inquiry.

He said the report was unacceptable and its conclusions offended the intelligence of those who read it.

The report said that although it would have been better had the radio station requested quotations for every service or item it bought, Mr Muscat had not been obliged to follow such civil service requirements.

When he had the time, Mr Muscat requested quotations, but given that he was constrained to quickly modernise the station, it was understandable that Mr Muscat had to make purchases by direct order.

Another option Mr Muscat could have taken was to seek the approval of the board of councillors, but the board had not met for a long time.

The inquiry report said that an IT contract awarded by VOM to Cyberspace Solutions Ltd, was at comparable or slightly cheaper than normal commercial rates.

It said that all the radio station's accounts were audited and shown in the station books and there had never been anything to worry about. This was substantiated by auditors who had never sent any management letter.

The report also concluded that one of Mr Muscat's sons used to be frequently at the radio station as an employee of Cyberspace and not of VOM. He used to be at the station because he was very familiar with how the station's systems operated.

Mr Brincat in his reaction said that although the report confirmed that the station spent just under a third of a million liri on furniture, equipment, security, transport and refurbishment without a call for tenders, it still tried to justify Mr Muscat's actions.

Mr Muscat, Mr Brincat said, did not give a valid reason for choosing the company which employed his son to operate the station's web site. Nor had he explained why he gave a summer job at the radio station to another of his sons. Indeed, he had also employed other people directly.

Instead of admonishing Mr Muscat for his behaviour, the inquiry report had come up with excuses to justify Mr Muscat's arbitrary administration.

Mr Brincat said that until an independent inquiry was held, it would be a mistake for the government to carry on with its plans to appoint Mr Muscat as resident ambassador to Ireland.