Of inquiries and inquiries

On January 19, the Leader of the Opposition reiterated his call and that of the Labour Party for an administrative inquiry to be held in order to establish what happened from the day the organisers of a New Year party applied for a permit and to find out what led to the tragedy of the 19-year-old girl who died on New Year's Day.

Is this call for an administrative inquiry so difficult to accept? If so, why? The government, who, after all, is responsible for both the police and the Mediterranean Conference Centre, needs to answer these questions. The government owes it to the people who are also demanding that the truth is known and is made public. The Maltese are known to love their children and we do every sacrifice for them. The least the government can do in the circumstances is to accept this call and order the administrative inquiry.

At this stage I must say that a magisterial inquiry will only deal with whether there was any criminal responsibility by the organisers or someone else. An administrative inquiry will address other aspects. It will go into both the case itself and also see how such activities are organised, authorised, what are the basic needs for this kind of activity, the costs involved, the prices charged and other related issues, such as health and safety regulations.

In a statement issued through the Department of Information, the Minister for Justice and Home Affairs said that once a magisterial inquiry is in progress there is no need for an administrative one. The minister went further and said that in other circumstances it was the opposition that requested a magisterial inquiry such as in the case of the Foundation for Tomorrows' Schools. In my opinion, the minister is confusing things and one inquiry has nothing to do with the other. The circumstances are very different and also the purpose of the two inquires is not the same.

But since the Minister for Justice and Home Affairs mentioned the magisterial inquiry that I, as shadow minister for education had requested, some comments from me on that inquiry are due.

First and foremost that inquiry on the allegations made on the work performed by the Foundation for Tomorrows' Schools was requested under the Criminal Code that regulates such inquiries by a magistrate.

In a note filed in court I explained the reasons for requesting a magisterial inquiry, quoting the Criminal Code, under the heading "Of abuse of authority, and of breach of duties pertaining to a public office" and "of malversation by public officers and servants". The magisterial inquiry on the Foundation for Tomorrow's Schools was clearly intended for totally different reasons than those for holding the inquiry into the death of the 19-year-old girl on New Year's Day.

As the magistrate stated in the inquiry report, the police were reluctant to cooperate in this magisterial inquiry. In fact, the magistrate complained on the lack of assistance by the police in the conduct of the investigation. I am sure this would not be the case in the present investigation. However, one cannot but question the reason behind this lack of cooperation in the FTS magisterial inquiry.

When the magisterial inquiry was ready, as is the practice, the report was passed to the Attorney General's Office, which also falls under the responsibility of the Minister for Justice and Home Affairs. This report was not made public. I put several parliamentary questions in this regard asking the minister to table the inquiry findings in Parliament. All in vain. Then I wrote to the Attorney General and this time I was allowed to go to this office and see the report there. However, I was told that if I wanted the inquiry report or parts of it I had to pay for it, even though I was doing all this in the public interest as a member of Parliament.

I also wrote to the Speaker of the House to intervene on the matter arguing that I was acting in the public interest and not for any personal gain or need. I was doing what I felt was my duty as shadow minister for education and a member of Parliament.

When the magisterial inquiry on the Foundation for Tomorrows' Schools was concluded, the police had enough evidence to investigate further other issues and matters. However, the police opted not to do so. No reason was given for this decision. The public cannot but wonder!