It is “unconstitutional” for people such as Sergei Golovkin, head of the Wild Birds Regulation Unit, to be appointed without a call for applications, according to the Public Service Commission’s annual reports.
Two months after the Labour Party was voted into power, the government established a unit within the Animal Rights Parliamentary Secretariat led by Roderick Galdes. The stated aim of the WBRU is “to implement government’s objectives in the field of hunting and trapping in strict accordance with EU and national policy”.
The Constitution makes no provision for the engagement of staff by the government solely on the basis of trust
Mr Golovkin was selected to lead this unit without a call for applications that would have given equally qualified individuals a chance for the position.
The Constitution makes no provision for the engagement of staff by the government solely on the basis of trust, even in ministerial secretariats, according to two consecutive PSC annual reports.
In its 2011 annual report, the Commission expressed concerns about the practice of filling certain positions on the basis of trust. While considering this practice justifiable since ministers are entitled to have staff they trust the PSC reiterated its concerns in its annual report the following year.
“Appointments on trust were being used not only in ministerial secretariats but, in a number of instances, to fill administrative, managerial or technical positions: quite apart from the unconstitutionality of such appointments, the Commission felt that there was no apparent justification why such positions should not be filled through a call for applications,” the PSC said.
When the Labour Party was in Opposition it criticised Petra Caruana Dingli’s appointment as Mepa’s Environment Protection Director in 2011 without a call for applications.
The statement was signed by Mr Galdes himself, then a member of the Mepa board, who had said he voted against the appointment because it lacked transparency.
Yet soon after he took on the role of Animal Rights Parliamentary Secretary he recruited Mr Golovkin in the same way.
In his latest report, Ombudsman Joseph Said Pullicino threw the spotlight on the vague definition of “position of trust”, saying such appointments should be restricted to ensure fairness, non-discrimination and transparency.
Mr Galdes also appointed Albert Pace as his advisor – a licensed trapper and hunter who was convicted for using illegal electronic bird lures in 2009.
Times of Malta yesterday revealed that one of his first tasks was to advise on the revision of the conservation of wild bird regulations that resulted in the decriminalisation of the use of such callers.
Until recently, Mr Pace’s desk at the ministry was in the same office of the WBRU, although political appointees should not share the same office as public employees. He sat next to brothers Joseph Lia and Richard Lia, employed in the same unit, which goes against the recommendations of the public service management code.
It states: “It is the practice to avoid having in the same unit members of the same family”.
Both brothers have a history with the hunting lobby. Joseph Lia was a council member for the hunters’ federation when he was recruited – he resigned only after his appointment.
His brother Richard was formerly a nurse at Mount Carmel hospital and has no credentials in bird conservation.
Excerpts from the Public Administration Act
The public has a right to expect that public sector organisations and their employees are of the highest integrity and competence and serve all citizens fairly, reasonably, equitably and efficiently.
Conflict of interest may be defined as a situation in which a public employee has a private or personal interest sufficient to influence or appear to influence the objective exercise of his official duties.
Public employees shall avoid any financial or other interest or undertaking that could directly or indirectly compromise the performance of their duties.