Minister accepts PBS resignations

The chairman of Public Broadcasting Services, Andrew Agius Muscat and the chairman of its editorial board, Fr Joe Borg have both resigned.

The resignations have been accepted by Investments Minister Austin Gatt, who is responsible for PBS.

Both Mr Agius Muscat and Fr Borg cited personal reasons for their resignation.

Contacted yesterday, Dr Gatt said he had no choice but to accept the resignations.

"Fr Borg had spoken to me in August and told me he wanted to resign as chairman of the editorial board for personal reasons. Recently, he sent me a letter via e-mail and I asked him to give me some more time. On Monday we spoke and agreed to publish the resignation.

"Then, Mr Agius Muscat tendered his resignation because of pressure of work and I had no choice but to accept both," Dr Gatt said.

Mr Agius Muscat was appointed in October last year and his term was initially until July 2005. This was later extended by a year. He is the general manager of Chef Choice, a poultry processing firm.

Contacted yesterday, Mr Agius Muscat described his year at PBS was "an interesting one" when the company began to stand on its feet.

"The results were good and the company's reform are working but it is difficult for me to run my company and PBS at the same time and keep the momentum. Important changes have taken place in the schedule and rates for airtime have now been established. We also instilled faith in the workforce, which is a positive thing," he said.

"But there is still a lot to be done," he added.

Contacted for his comments, Fr Borg said the resignation was "of a personal nature".

"I would like to stress that my resignation has nothing to do with the chairman's resignation. So much so that in October I had informed the members of the editorial board of my decision to step down," Fr Borg said.

The members of the editorial board were appointed in May 2004 with an open-ended term of office.