Aġenzija Żgħażagħ CEO Miriam Teuma also serves as chairwoman of the agency’s advisory board, this newspaper has learnt.
The board is appointed by Education Minister Evarist Bartolo assists the CEO in the execution of her duties.
Replying to questions in Parliament earlier this week, Mr Bartolo confirmed that a new advisory board had been set up and that Ms Teuma would preside over it.
It had four members: Robert Napier, Clara Grixti, Michael Piccinino and Benjamin Dalli, he said.
When contacted, Ms Teuma said it was the minister who had appointed her chairwoman of the non-executive board.
“When the board’s previous term ended in December, the minister again approached me, asking whether I wanted to set up an advisory board. This being an agency for youths, I decided that an advisory board with young members should be set up and we issued a call for applications on our website,” Ms Teuma said.
Asked whether her role as CEO could interfere with the functioning of the board, Ms Teuma replied it would not, adding that a legal notice under the Public Administration Act stipulated that the advisory board should be chaired by the CEO.
The legal notice makes no mention of such an appointment though it mentions the number of members, saying they should not be fewer than two and not more than four.
The legal notice also lays down that remuneration paid to members of the advisory board “shall be in accordance with any directives and guidelines which may be issued by the agency from time to time”.
While applications by those interested in sitting on the advisory board were submitted in December, the new members told this newspaper they had not yet received any information about the appointment
“I applied, however I never received an appointment letter, and so far, we haven’t even met,” one of the members told the Times of Malta.
Another said he had found out about the appointment following questions from this newspaper, adding that he had received his letter of appointment only yesterday. When asked about this, Ms Teuma said she had informed the minister of the chosen candidates last month but confirmed that no meeting had yet been held.
The members should officially be informed of their appointment in the coming days, she added.
claire.caruana@timesofmalta.com