ADT chairman rejects minister's comments

Malta Transport Authority chairman Joe Gerada has denied Transport Minister Jesmond Mugliett's assertion that he or the board were involved in the decision to reinstate two officers convicted last November of accepting bribes in connection with driving tests.

Outgoing CEO Gianfranco Selvaggi said last week he had been "told" by the Transport Ministry to reverse a decision he had taken to sack Jason Buttigieg and Roderick Galea - a former canvasser of the minister - immediately after an appeal court confirmed their conviction.

They were convicted of accepting bribes from driving test candidates and conditionally discharged for three years and banned for life from holding public office.

However, just weeks after being sacked, Mr Selvaggi reinstated the two on half pay, pending a request they had filed for a presidential pardon. The outgoing CEO said he had been instructed to do so. The officers have since been sacked.

The minister had admitted to The Times that he told Mr Selvaggi to reverse his decision, adding however that it had been "discussed collectively".

In Parliament last Tuesday, the minister said that after collectively discussing the issue it was decided that the decision on the sackings should be left pending in view of a request the two men had filed for a presidential pardon.

"Had he been given orders which were unacceptable," the minister said in Parliament, "the chairman, who has recently been reappointed, would have refused".

However, when contacted, the chairman made it clear he had nothing to do with the decision.

Echoing the CEO's comments, Mr Gerada said: "I never considered or agreed that these two officials should be retained, even temporarily, after they had been convicted by the court. I was of the opinion that the presidential pardon has no bearing on whether these people should be sacked".

In a letter published in The Times today, Mr Gerada stresses that the board was not pressured in any way.When asked to clarify this point, he said the board had not been ordered or pressured because it was not involved in the decision.

Mr Selvaggi, who personally signed the letter informing the officers they would be reinstated, said he had been following orders.

"I was, and still am, opposed to the fact that they have not been sacked," he insisted before they were laid off last week.

That same day he resigned, insisting his resignation had nothing to do with the case. Industry sources said Mr Selvaggi had been considering tendering his resignation for some time because he felt "sandwiched between a rock and a hard place on a number of issues".