Never mind just for a moment the scandals that have rocked and plagued this administration since it took office and that have kept surfacing, almost regularly, since the oil procurement scandal revealed in the dying days of the previous Nationalist administration. Equally disturbing is the number of cases showing distinct lack of propriety and of good governance, a matter that has rocketed to the top of the national agenda. To the government, however, it would seem that all this, plus its in-your-face arrogance, is the price the country has to pay for the steady progress made on the economic front. It should not be so.
Going by what Labour politicians, but especially Joseph Muscat, used to say before the last general election, the country expected an administration that would not only fight corruption but would also ensure that the country’s administrative machinery runs efficiently and, most importantly, free of abuse.
There is hardly any administration anywhere in the world that can provide foolproof systems against inefficiency and abuse, but the decline in good governance shown under this administration is palpable.
There appears to be no respite to the number of cases that keep coming up, as shown by the latest report of the National Audit Office. The Prime Minister hardly ever fails to bring up the free childcare scheme introduced by his government in his speeches and, indeed, the idea, which is not original, is brilliant, as it is of tremendous help to working parents.
In Malta’s case, the scheme has helped boost the participation rate of women in the workforce. But, although many are benefiting well, the scheme has been mired in problems, first with parents complaining about unjustified claims for payment and, now, with the tampering of attendance records. Childcare is free but childcare centres are allowed, justifiably so, to charge parents if a certain amount of pre-booked hours are not utilised.
However, some parents complained earlier this year that they were billed even if their child had not exceeded the absence allowance, with one parent alone receiving a bill for €1,000. New arrangements were made and there does not seem to have been fresh complaints about this so far. But the auditor’s report has now revealed another abuse. It said centres were tampering with attendance records to siphon off public money from the scheme.
No fewer than 60 centres were paid more than €90,000 for booked hours for which children failed to attend. The audit office found that the scheme was characterised by lax controls, which led to overpayments. This is unacceptable any time, but more so when account is taken of the huge political propaganda the government ekes out of the scheme.
The Education Ministry has told the audit office that it had managed to recoup €24,000 of the amount, but this is hardly the point now. The issue is that there must have been serious shortcomings in the chain of command, leading to a kind of laxity in the running of the scheme that gave way to abuse.
In one case, a centre was paid €4,380 for two children who were recorded at two different centres. An attempt to check abuse was made when an electronic system, costing more than €240,000, was introduced in January this year but, due to lack of proper control, even this did not work as well as expected.
When taxpayers are this year forking out about €13 million for the childcare service, the least they expect is that the scheme is run professionally and that every effort is made to check abuse.