Parliamentary Secretary Owen Bonnici took a leaf out of his minister’s book and paid a surprise visit to a court department – finding more employees absent from work, this time among a group of chauffeurs assigned to the judiciary.
It was a frantic run ahead to knock on the department’s doors and announce the minister’s presence
Dr Bonnici paid a visit to the department housing a group of five ‘reserve’ drivers who are meant to step in for official chauffeurs assigned to the 40-plus members of the judiciary when they are on leave or sick.
Sources at the law courts said the young parliamentary secretary walked into the office on Wednesday morning to find the small office contained only the head of department.
It turned out that on average, only two to three relief chauffeurs were needed per day. The ones who did not have any work to do have got into the habit of signing in on attendance records in the morning and then leaving for the rest of the day.
A secretariat spokesman confirmed the incident, adding that the matter was now being probed by the permanent secretary, the civil servant in charge of the portfolio.
Dr Bonnici had been alerted to the issue via e-mail and decided to look into the issue personally, before turning it to the permanent secretary, the spokesman said.
The visit followed a similar initiative by Manuel Mallia, the minister with overall responsibility for Dr Bonnici’s portfolio, when he turned up unannounced at Corradino prison and found eight prison warders missing from their posts.
An investigation has since been ordered and the prison director Abraham Zammit resigned.
But this was not the only visit by the Home Affairs Minister, even if perhaps it was the most eventful, The Times has learnt.
A ministry source said during another visit to the ID Cards section at Evans Buildings, Valletta, the receptionist failed to recognise Dr Mallia.
He walked in with a few aides to find a man slouched in a chair. “Yes, hi?” came the greeting.
The minister asked to speak to the director but the man shook his head, pointing out that he was on leave. He then asked to see his deputy, but the receptionist said he was on leave as well.
Finally, he asked to speak to anyone who was in charge, at which point the receptionist wanted to know who was asking.
“It’s (Home Affairs) Minister Manuel Mallia,” he was told, at which point the receptionist turned pale, the ministry source said.
After that, it was a frantic run ahead to knock on the department’s doors and announce the minister’s presence.
“At one point, Dr Mallia pointed out to him that he could knock on the doors himself but the receptionist insisted, still flustered after the gaffe: ‘No please, allow me’.”