Karl Cutajar, the 18-year-old appointed director of government-owned Fort Security Services, has resigned, Economy Minister Chris Cardona said this evening.

Replying to a supplementary parliamentary question by PN deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami, the minister said that he had seen a letter from Mr Cutajar to Fort Security Services chairman John Busuttil thanking him for giving him the opportunity to serve but saying he was renouncing his position because of "harsh political victimisation".

He said he would continue to do its duties as a Mimcol appointee through normal engagement procedures on his own steam.

Replying to further questions by Dr Fenech Adami, Dr Cardona said there was no government intention for Fort Security Services to enter partnerships with other companies offering the same services.

Nor was there any government intention to use the company as a vehicle to surreptitiously employ a number of cronies who had boasted of having nothing to do while serving as self-employed security officers at the Freeport.

On the Opposition’s allegation that Mr Cutajar was a relative of the Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Dr Cardona said that just days before relinquishing his post as MEP, Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil had pushed for the engagement of two assistants to Dar Malta in Brussels.

Rising on a point of order, Dr Busuttil said the two people were not his relatives and had passed through a “rigorous” selection process. Had Mr Cutajar passed any sort of exam before his appointment to the Fort board?

Dr Cardona said Dr Busuttil should know that no-one needed to pass any exam before being appointed to serve on a board. Mr Cutajar had been given employment at Mimcol in a legal manner and would have received no remuneration for his services to Fort Security Services. Dr Busuttil’s former assistants had each been given a financial package of €80,000.

Dr Cardona cited the case of a 20-year-old woman with Nationalist affiliation who had been engaged in the EU section at Dar Malta and then given a permanent position with a financial package of €90,000. If Dr Busuttil really wanted to clean up Maltese politics, he had better start looking around himself.

Dr Busuttil said he could confirm there were no relatives of his at Dar Malta. The same could not be said of Parliamentary Secretary Ian Borg and Finance Minister Edward Scicluna, whose cousin and daughter respectively were employed at Dar Malta.

On a point of order, Dr Borg said his cousin and Prof. Scicluna’s daughter had been selected for Brussels after they had been in the public service since 2010. His cousin’s posting to Brussels had meant a financial loss of €4,000 a year. 

 

 

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