The government is refusing to give information on the terms of engagement of 13 consultants hired by the Gozo Ministry during this legislature, mostly on a part-time basis.

The list of consultants currently assisting Minister Anton Refalo includes veteran Labour MP Joe Debono Grech, Identity Malta’s executive chairman Joe Vella Bonnici and Mgr Joe Vella Gauci, who is also Malta’s ambassador to Unesco.

Asked to specify the nature of their consultancy and what remuneration they were receiving for their work, the Gozo Ministry refused to give any details.

Ironically, when the Times of Malta sought to get information through a freedom of information request, the ministry replied that the information requested “is publicly available or will be published within three months”.

This newspaper asked the ministry for a copy of the engagement contracts of all the 13 consultants engaged by it since March 2013.

As the information has been denied, the Times of Malta has now asked the Data Protection Commissioner for an investigation arguing that the ministry was using the law as a delaying tactic in order not to give information that is of a public interest.

According to a parliamentary question submitted by Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi, since March 2013 the Gozo Ministry engaged a total of 13 consultants.

These included former permanent secretary Frank Psaila, who used to head the ministry under a Nationalist administration, Dr Joe Mifsud, who upon becoming a magistrate stopped serving as a consultant, Dr Christian Zammit, a Labour Party candidate and Dr Joseph Grech, former chairman of Gozo Channel. They are all no longer serving.

Currently the ministry has seven consultants. These are Identity Malta’s Executive chairman Joe Vella Bonnici, who, apart from his full-time job in Malta, gives a 10-hour a week consultancy to the Gozo Ministry; university lecturer Dr Rose Marie Azzopardi, giving 30 hours of consultancy a week; the former archpriest of the Gozo Cathedral, Mgr Joe Vella Gauci, who assists the minister for 10 hours a week; and the 77-year-old former Labour minister Joe Debono Grech, who, aside from his parliamentary duties, assists the Ministry for 20 hours a week.

The Gozo ministry currently also engages Tony Borg as a full-time consultant and Philip Farrugia and Mario Borg on a part-time basis.

ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com

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