Council earthquake at a glance

Sliema
Problems at the Sliema council began months ago when the executive secretary flagged a possible mismanagement of public funds in connection with a tender awarded for the installation of fairy lights on trees along the town’s promenade.

The Department for Local Government investigated and passed on the case to the Internal Audit and Investigations Department within the Office of the Prime Minister.

Concurrently, the police started their own investigation into claims of bribery and mayor Nikki Dimech admitted to having asked for commission in relation to a public contract.

However, he has since contested the status of this confession, claiming he was coerced into signing the statement while suffering panic attack which was triggered after police did not give him access to his asthma inhaler.

The police have denied the claim and charged him with bribery last week, two days before he faced, and eventually lost, a vote of no confidence at the Sliema council.

Mr Dimech and fellow councillor Sandra Camilleri, who resigned from the PN over its handling of the issue, voted against the motion. The PN’s six remaining councillors voted in favour and Labour’s three councillors abstained.

Deputy mayor Johanna Gonzi was nominated to succeed Mr Dimech.

San Gwann
Noel Agius, the 32-year-old son of Nationalist San Ġwann mayor Joseph Mary Agius, admitted in court on August 29 that he had asked a contractor for a bribe in return for a waste collection tender awarded by the council. An admission earned him a two-year jail term suspended for four years.

He was accused of having been an accomplice and the mayor is expected to be charged in court once he leaves hospital where he is recovering from a heart attack.

Joseph Agius resigned from the party soon after his son’s suspended jail term was handed down.

Fgura
On August 3, this village saw the election of a new mayor, 23-year-old law student Byron Camilleri, following the resignation of former mayor Darren Marmara minutes before facing a motion of no confidence submitted by fellow Labour councillors who complained of a “lack of serenity” within the council.

The reason why Mr Marmara was forced to resign has, however, never been made public.

When asked for an explanation, he had said he and his family had received “threats” and that, although the motion had the full backing of the Labour Party, he had still not understood what he had done wrong.

Għarb
The deputy mayor of the quaint Gozo village resigned some two weeks after being charged in court with defiling a minor.

The 40-year-old man’s name cannot be published because of a court order banning publication, even though he is not related to the complainant.

In view of the criminal case brought against him, the deputy mayor resigned his post and also from all the PN structures.

Swieqi
A full-scale investigation into VAT fraud last year led to the resignation of PN Swieqi councillor and deputy mayor Gregory Brincat. In September last year, Mr Brincat was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment suspended for four years and fined €700 and a perpetual general interdiction.

Gżira
Gżira deputy mayor Joe Camilleri last week resigned from the Labour Party after it was discovered he has a pending criminal case.

The Labour Party said Mr Camilleri was asked to “reconsider” his position and his representation of the party after the case came to light

Details of the case could not be confirmed but the charges are not council-related.

His departure cancels out the Labour Party’s majority in Gżira, a majority it claimed at the March 2007 local election for the first time since councils were set up. Both the Nationalist Party and the PL now have three members each and Mr Camilleri sits in the middle.

Żebbuġ (Gozo)
In one of the strangest cases to surface in connection with the local councils saga, the mayor of this village, Charles Saliba, resigned from the Nationalist Party two weeks ago pending proceedings being taken against him by the police for “misappropriating” the council’s laptop.

His ‘crime’ was to allow his daughter to use the computer to access her Facebook account when he took it home.

Mr Saliba, who is denying the charges, resigned to be in a better position to defend himself without implicating the party.

St Venera
Former St Venera mayor Elizabeth Vella resigned in mid-August from the Nationalist Party and from her position as mayor after an investigation by the Auditor General ruled that she had breached financial regulations.

She admitted to receiving an €80 donation given to her in return for the use of the council’s premises for private lessons. She topped up this amount with a further €20 of her own money and deposited it in a joint account called Fond Ngħinu lil Ħaddieħor, held jointly by the council and the parish priest since 2000 for charitable events.

In her resignation letter to PN general secretary Paul Borg Olivier, Ms Vella said her intentions were genuine but she still resigned because she had always adopted high ethical standards.

Żebbuġ (Malta)
Former Żebbuġ mayor Brian Bonnici resigned in November last year after denying claims that he used workers paid by the council to carry out work on the roof of his home.

Luqa
The former executive secretary at the Luqa council is being investigated by the Attorney General’s office over the misappropriation of council funds in relation to petty cash payments. The former executive secretary denied the allegation.

The Attorney General is looking into the results of an investigation carried out by the Internal Audit and Investigation Department within the Office of the Prime Minister. He is expected to decide whether to proceed with criminal action in connection with the findings.

San Lawrenz, Gozo
A solar panel supplier and the San Lawrenz mayor Noel Formosa are under investigation by police over a scheme to encourage residents to take up government subsidies.

They devised a scheme to enable people from the small Gozitan village to invest in photovoltaic panels for just €1,000. The scheme was based on the government’s refund policy to give back 50 per cent of the cost price up to a maximum of €3,000.

San Lawrenz residents were given the option to pay €4,000 and still receive the maximum government refund of €3,000 by having the price on their invoice inflated to €6,000.

Both the supplier and the mayor have denied any wrongdoing, with the supplier insisting it was a marketing initiative in which he would have “sponsored” the village to the tune of thousands of euros.