Transport and Communications Minister Austin Gatt yesterday laid on the table of the House of Representatives the report of a board of inquiry set up to investigate an allegation of irregular exclusion of a candidate for a driving instructor's licence. He also tabled a copy of the letter he had written to the chairman of the Transport Authority in which he said the board's conclusions were "disturbing, to say the least" and he expected the authority's board to take immediate disciplinary action against the persons concerned.
Dr Gatt also expected the authority to offer the complainant redress for the unfair treatment she had received.
The board of inquiry was set up after Ms Charlene Meilak alleged, in a letter dated May 19, 2008, that someone had advised her not to sit for the driving instructor's examination because she would fail, allegedly for reasons different to her merits and qualifications as a driving instructor. She had already passed the first two of the required three exams: Theory and practical driving licence. All that was outstanding was her third and final exam, practical assisted driving lesson.
ADT Licensing and Testing Directorate Manager Joseph Fenech informed Ms Meilak's father that the test of May 22 had been cancelled because the examiner was English and Ms Meilak had difficulties communicating in that language, so the exam would have been futile. Mr Fenech allegedly based his decision on information received from the ADT office in Gozo. Giving evidence to the board of inquiry, Ms Meilak said she had no difficulty communicating in English because she had a university honours degree in that language and worked as an accountant. She had spoken to no ADT official about any such problems.
It transpired during the inquiry that very recently, after Miss Meilak's complaint, a system had been introduced whereby candidates expecting to take their final exam were bound to take a number of two-hour sessions at a cost of €23.39 per session. But the system had been introduced without the authorisation or approval of the ADT executive management, particularly in view of the fact that the system had been made compulsory and at a fee.
The inquiring board said there was no doubt that it was Mr Fenech who had unilaterally decided to cancel Ms Meilak's final exam. He should at least have verified the allegation about her inability to communicate in English. But his decisions were neither malicious nor due to ulterior motives: Simply to a lack of competence in his role. Neither had he seen anything strange in the fact that the teacher and the examiner were the same person.
The board also found that Licensing and Testing Director Joseph Caruana had a heavier burden to carry because of his higher position. He had taken the matter lightly and effectively failed to do his proper duty, but he had not been aware of the cancellation of Ms Meilak's examination. He admitted that he and Mr Fenech had been hasty both in the decision and in the implementation of the new system.
In his letter to the ADT board Minister Gatt also wrote that the board should take immediate action to document and publish all the procedures and fees that were necessary in connection with how one went about to obtain a driving instructor's licence.
The board also needed to ensure a high quality level of instructors to be in place, and consequently needed to also objectively establish the level that it wanted licensed instructors to achieve. If the level of present licensed instructors was deemed to be insufficient, a phased plan should be implemented to raise it to the levels established by the authority.