Labour calls on two ambassadors to step down

The Labour Party is calling for the resignation of two Maltese ambassadors in the light of the damning auditor general's report on the operations of the Voice of the Mediterranean radio station.

Richard Muscat, former VOM managing director, and Gaetan Naudi, who held the post of permanent secretary within the Foreign Affairs Ministry, are being asked to resign from their present posts as ambassadors to Ireland and Spain respectively.

"Since the auditor general's report highlights the abuse and the blatant breach of the government's financial regulations in the way VOM was run, placing the blame squarely on the station's managing director and singling out the permanent secretary for serious lack of financial and administrative control, we feel they should both resign," said Leo Brincat, Labour spokesman for Foreign Affairs and IT.

"In the light of this report we feel the two are not worthy to represent Malta in such prestigious posts," he said at a press conference yesterday.

The auditor's biting report found a lot of shortcomings in the way VOM was run, from the way management awarded major contracts related to the station's expansion and refurbishment by direct order, to hospitality expenses claimed by the managing director in excess of his employment entitlement contract.

The auditor slammed the management over how items of furniture were sold to third parties at low prices and without proper record. The list of shortcomings is a long one.

When contacted, a ministry spokesman told The Times that the report was being studied and that the current permanent secretary had asked for a statement from Mr Muscat and Mr Naudi in reaction to the report.

The shortwave radio station ceased to broadcast on December 31, 2003 after a span of 20 years when the Libyan government - which was a shareholder in the company - informed its Maltese counterpart that it no longer saw a function for such a station.

The way VOM had been run between 2000 and 2003 had also come under scrutiny at the time by Mr Brincat who had called for an independent inquiry.

On January 28, 2004 the Public Accounts Committee had agreed to refer the case to the auditor general and two-and-a-half years later the report has finally been tabled in Parliament.

"Initially, I was a bit uncomfortable about how long it took for the report to be completed. But considering that an audit of 4,000 transactions and 29 interviews were carried out, coupled with staff limitations, we feel the two-and-a-half years is justified," Mr Brincat said.

"I have not seen such a damning report as this that lists such shortcomings. The persons in questions should shoulder the responsibility and resign," he said.