President George Abela has denied claims of maladministration at the Kitchen Garden of San Anton Palace, saying that employees’ complaints of food wastage and mismanagement were “unfounded”.
Management is always looking to increase efficiency
Employees have complained about a number of issues, mainly their working conditions and about the level of service offered at the cafeteria.
They told The Times there was mismanagement in food preparation and a lot of food was being wasted. They also complained about the level of freshness of the food served.
But replying to questions from The Times, the President’s office said the allegations were being “strongly rebutted since they are gratuitous, unfounded, speculative and far from the truth”.
The office referred to the questions sent as “insinuations... directed at the management of the cafeteria in the President’s Kitchen Garden, which raises funds for the Malta Community Chest Fund”.
The Kitchen Garden opened to the public last year and includes a cafeteria, a playing area and animal pens.
It is open daily, and profits from sales at the cafeteria go to the Malta Community Chest Fund.
Among others, the employees complained they were being underpaid and their social security payments were being incorrectly deducted from their bonuses.
They said there was only one manager and no one to replace him when he was off or on leave.
The workers argued they should be paid for the time they spent there after closing and argued they should start shifts 30 minutes before opening time.
They called on the President to address other problems such as a marquee that leaks when it rains and a faulty air-conditioning unit.
The workers claimed that a problem of rats at the animal pens was leading to the area being closed off early, to the disappointment of children who wanted to see the animals.
Replying to a question on finances, a spokeswoman for the President said: “It is public knowledge that the accounts of the MCCF are audited annually by a reputable firm of auditors and duly published in the local media, and hence any sort of claim of mismanagement is totally untrue.
“The financial statements of the cafeteria are separately being prepared for audit by the same reputable firm now that the cafeteria has been in operation for a full financial year.”
Asked whether it was true that one contractor was owed some €8,000 while the fruit supplier was owed around €2,500, the spokeswoman said suppliers were being paid regularly.
Referring to another question on food waste and plans to privatise its management, the office said this was “speculative, to say the least”.
“Management is, however, always on the lookout to increase efficiency, improve the work practices and curb any kind of wastages,” she said.
The spokeswoman confirmed that the President had met the employees to “frankly discuss” the points they had raised, adding that these had been “sorted out”.