An army injustices board has opened the floodgates for complaints, some going as far back as the 1950s, its chairman says.

Former army commander Maurice Calleja said that, since the board was set up two years ago, “everyone is suddenly deciding to complain”, denying a conflict of interest when recommending a promotion to rectify an ‘injustice’ under his watch 23 years ago.

The board was set up soon after the Labour Party’s electoral victory in 2013 with a remit to address complaints by both retired and serving soldiers.

In one case, the board recommended that a retired high-ranking officer, Major Joseph Mary Galea, be promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel with effect from January 1992, when the army was headed by Brig. Calleja himself.

“I had no conflict of interest in this. At the time when I was commander, this chap didn’t come to me to complain. He only decided that he suffered an injustice 23 years later,” Brig. Calleja told the Times of Malta.

He could not recall why Mr Galea was given a promotion backdated by 23 years. “I don’t remember the precise details of the case but we decided that the officer should have been given a promotion in 1992.”

When it was pointed out that the army was under his command when the injustice occurred in 1992, Brig. Calleja said he was not aware of the injustice and nobody had complained at the time.

He said the board he chaired was dealing with a complaint going back to the 1950s. No decision had been made yet but, in any case, if a promotion was awarded this would not be backdated because the complainant had since passed away, he said, adding: “We still have problems with his family.”

Backdated promotions

The Times of Malta reported yesterday that several retired army officers had been given backdated promotions by the board. This will mean thousands of euros in arrears to cover the difference in salaries and pensions as a result of the higher ranks.

A spokesman for Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela declined to quantify the payments the government would be making to cover the backdated promotions.

Brig. Calleja’s appointment to head the board was harshly criticised by the Opposition, which argued that he had an axe to grind having been forced to resign in 1993 due to the arraignment of his son, Meinrad, on drug trafficking charges.

Brig. Calleja insisted yesterday he was not forced to resign but had done so out of his own free will.

ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com