New Malta Enterprise PR chief Aleks Farrugia. Photo: Facebook

Former Labour official and editor of union newspaper It-Torċa Aleks Farrugia has joined Malta Enterprise as the new head of communications and PR.

Mr Farrugia, who helmed the General Workers’ Union newspaper for the past six years and previously served as Labour’s education secretary, joined the state company responsible for foreign investment yesterday.

Malta Enterprise had not issued a public call for the post.

Instead, Mr Farrugia said he was approached by the state entity after registering for the past months with the Employment and Training Corporation (register Part 3).

This part of the unemployment register allows individuals who already have work to make themselves available for another job if vacancies open.

“I was registering on Part 3 and this opportunity came by,” Mr Farrugia told Times of Malta.

I was registering at the Employment and Training Corporation and this opportunity came by

Despite various parliamentary questions, Economic Affairs Minister Chris Cardona has refused to give details of financial packages given to various high Malta Enterprise officials recruited directly by the Administration without a call for applications.

Former Labour Party president Mario Vella was appointed executive chairman soon after the general election while the party’s former sec-retary general Jimmy Magro has been recruited as executive chairman of a new subsidiary responsible for science projects.

Dr Cardona has cited “commercial information” when refusing a request by the Opposition to reveal the financial package of Joshua Zammit who was chosen to head Malta Industrial Parks, apart from being appointed deputy chairman of Malta Enterprise.

Malta Enterprise had also recruited without a call Sai Mizzi Liang, the wife of Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi.

Ms Liang was given a permanent post in China – her native country – and put on ambassadorial status with a financial package reaching €13,000 a month.

Her job is intended to attract more Asian investment to Malta. So far, the government has also refused to publish her contract.