Measures taken to address injustices deemed to have been suffered by members of the army and police during previous administrations have so far cost nearly €700,000, data seen by The Sunday Times of Malta has revealed.
Addressing past injustices was a Labour electoral pledge. Soon after the general election, the new government appointed injustices boards across all of its departments to consider cases going back seven years.
The figures show that the board set up for the Armed Forces of Malta accepted 204 claims of injustice from close to 400 applications.
The board, headed by Brigadier Maurice Calleja, a former AFM commander, probed complaints that included being passed over in promotions and requests for an increase in pension.
The exercise to address the injustices within the AFM alone cost €613,651.
The ranks involved varied from gunner to lieutenant colonel, a Home Affairs Ministry spokeswoman told this newspaper.
With regard to the police, the spokeswoman said its Grievances Unit had upheld 30 injustice claims but so far only 22 of the decisions taken have been implemented. The cost so far was €55,573.
Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela told Parliament last year that the Police Grievances Unit had received 81 applications from police officers claiming an injustice.
Sources said addressing injustices was proving “tricky”, as it was creating further injustices.
The Sunday Times of Malta reported last week that 11 police officers complained they had been leapfrogged by less qualified candidates for the second time in three years.
Last month, Dr Abela presided over a ceremony in which 10 police officers were formally awarded their promotion, ranging from constable to sergeant major.
The other 20 officers whose claim was upheld by the grievances board are expected to receive several benefits including financial compensation and an increase in their pension.
These adjustments in the working conditions were meant to make amends for previous injustices but 11 sergeants who twice missed out on promotions to sergeant major cried foul, saying the board, set up in September 2014, had discriminated against them.
The grievances board within the police force is not accepting any more claims but the newly-formed police union is calling for it to be re-opened so that it may address numerous injustice claims which were not looked into.
In 2014, when the first AFM injustices board was set up, there was disagreement between then Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia and Ombudsman Joseph Said Pullicino over the latter’s insistence that he had every right to investigate complaints over appointments, promotions, pay and pension rights in the AFM. The matter was taken to court, which ruled the Ombudsman was right and ordered the ministry to furnish the Ombudsman’s office with all the required documentation.