The Marigold Foundation is not being used as a publicity vehicle for the Prime Minister’s wife, Michelle Muscat, members of the foundation’s board of administrators insisted during an interview with The Sunday Times of Malta.
The foundation, which is chaired by Ms Muscat, was set up by BOV in 2014 against an initial endowment of €200,000.
Its function is to serve as an autonomous arm in BOV’s corporate social responsibility operations.
The foundation and Mrs Muscat found themselves in the spotlight last month after prisoners forming part of a project they endorsed complained about delayed payments, running into several thousand euros, for curtains and costumes they had made the previous year.
BOV’s chief financial officer, Elvia George, who forms part of the Marigold board, explained that Mrs Muscat’s presence served to attract the media and raise awareness about the foundation’s work.
“If Michelle Muscat goes to an event, it will attract the media. BOV also set up the Joseph Calleja Foundation, and Mr Calleja’s presence serves to attract attention to its work.
“Both foundations have prominent personalities who do a lot of work in their respective areas, and they do a lot of good,” Ms George said.
She has more to lose than to gain in reality, because we cannot help everyone and have to turn people away. As a foundation we do not help individuals
She made it clear that the foundation supported other organisations and not individual cases. It received over €80,000 in donations during its first year of operations and gave out €40,000.
Ms George said many of the foundation’s current beneficiaries are the same ones that BOV used to help, such as Dar tal-Providenza, Dar il-Kaptan and the Special Olympics in Malta.
“BOV used to receive a number of requests, which before perhaps were not given the necessary attention. Now the Marigold Foundation looks at these requests and decides accordingly,” she said.
She insisted that Mrs Muscat could not use the foundation for her own political patronage, as all requests for financial assistance were approved by the board of administrators as a whole.
Johann Grech, an aide to Ms Muscat, said she had no “political aspirations”.
Consultant cardiologist Robert Xuereb, who also sits on the foundation’s board, acknowledged that people may have the impression that it is the ‘Michelle Muscat Foundation.’
“People may have that impression because she is the chairperson and she is representing us. There are other administrators on the board, though, including Fr Hilary Tagliaferro, Ivan Grech from Winter Moods and the entrepreneur John Magro of Magro Brothers.
“We always emphasise the fact that we are here to help people less fortunate than us. Mrs Muscat has more to lose than to gain in reality, because we cannot help everyone and have to turn people away.
“As a foundation we do not help individuals, we help other foundations or organisations,” Dr Xuereb said.
On the prison controversy, lawyer Andre Borg, who represents the foundation, said Marigold was in no way involved in the day-to-day running of the initiative, which was the brainchild of Ms Muscat’s friend Mary Grace Pisani.
One of the clauses in the foundation’s deed of institution states that the foundation must not support any initiative that may give rise to a reputational risk for the foundation or BOV.
Dr Borg said as soon as the non-payment controversy broke, the foundation looked into the problem, and a few days later the inmates were paid.
“The payments were being processed, the Marigold Foundation had nothing to do with it,” he said.
Ms George said the plan was to follow up on the courses already given to inmates, who would now we taught fine tailoring.
“The point is to help ease them back into society,” Ms George said.
jacob.borg@timesofmalta.com