Pandora’s box wide open on private use of public property

A public officer entitled to a government car may taxi his children to school but cannot use his driver to run errands unrelated to work, according to the Office of the Prime Minister.

“Persons entitled to a government car are allowed to make personal use of the car. This is considered part of their income and hence they pay fringe benefit tax on it,” a spokesman said when asked where the line was drawn in such instances.

However, he added, drivers can “only be used by senior public officers on official government duties”.

The information comes in the wake of a case involving a Gozitan mayor charged by the police with misappropriating council funds because he allowed his daughter to use his council-bought laptop to access the internet.

The case, which ruffled the feathers of many a mayor, has opened a debate over the official and private use of public property entrusted to individuals and whether mayors are being targeted unfairly.

Asked about the use of laptops by civil servants, the spokesman said employees entitled to take their work laptop home could not allow others to use the computer if it contained confidential government information.

However, he also pointed out that government laptops are normally connected to a secure government system and so even when out of office they may not be connected to any non-secure network.

“Public service employees who take a work laptop home are not in breach of government rules if in view of their duties and/or working conditions they are entitled to take them home. If the laptop contains any confidential government information, the use of the laptop is restricted to the public officer,” the spokesman said.

When it comes to mobile phone use, government employees entitled to an allowance have it capped at a predetermined amount.

The spokesman said these conditions apply for the public service and may change in the wider public sector, which includes authorities and agencies, depending on the conditions of employment applicable to the particular entity concerned.

The mayor of Żebbuġ in Gozo, Charles Saliba, was summoned to appear before a magistrate at the Gozo Courts to face charges of misappropriating the council’s laptop and misusing public funds by allowing his daughter to access a Facebook account from the computer.