Mgr Joe Vella Gauci.

Malta’s non-resident Ambassador to Unesco has opened a new office in Xewkija despite Foreign Ministry instructions to work from its Valletta head office like others in his role.

Monsignor Joe Vella Gauci has opened a new office in a government school in Xewkija after ending the lease of a luxury apartment in Xagħra, which was being used as his office with four government-paid employees as his staff.

Contacted by this newspaper, a spokesman for Foreign Minister George Vella admitted it was “unusual” for a non-resident ambassador to have a separate office outside the ministry’s building, adding that Mgr Vella Gauci was expected to close his Xagħra office after eight months.

However, instead of returning to work from Valletta, Mgr Vella Gauci had other plans, moving his office to Xewkija.

This time the four government employees have been reduced to one – a personal assistant – who was “temporarily transferred” by the Gozo Ministry.

Instead of working in Valletta, he moved his office to Xewkija

Asked in Parliament why was Mgr Vella Gauci being afforded special arrangements to conduct his part-time job, Dr Vella had said the office was “temporary for just eight months” due to urgent work needed to settle an issue with Unesco over Valletta’s status as a World Heritage site.

He said the office was opened and paid for by the Parliamentary Secretariat for Culture.

Unesco’s concerns about Valletta were “practically resolved”, with its status as a city of Outstanding Universal Value again cemented in certainty, the then Parliamentary Secretary for Culture, José Herrera, had said in February.

Senior diplomatic sources at the Foreign Ministry said: “The issue on the status of Valletta has been resolved a long time ago and, in reality, there was never such a serious threat as it boiled down to a communication misunderstanding.”

The issue was about the impact the new City Gate project by Renzo Piano had on Valletta’s entrance.

“Apart from the fact that Renzo Piano is a goodwill ambassador of Unesco and no action was ever envisaged on the City Gate project, the matter was resolved after a few meetings,” the sources added.

Following Mgr Vella Gauci’s appointment as ambassador by the government last year, Times of Malta had reported his non-ecclesiastical appointment was not approved by the Gozo Curia.

Sources close to the Gozo Curia had said that his appointment went against Canon Law which laid down that “clerics are forbidden to assume public offices which entail a participation in the exercise of civil power”.

Questions sent to Mgr Vella Gauci remained unanswered at the time of writing.