The Gozo Ministry was “far from transparent” when it gave thousands of euros to ineligible entities last year, a new report has found.
The Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations’ 2015 annual report, tabled in Parliament this week, has rapped Gozo Minister Anton Refalo for the way “significant parts” of a €50,000 fund were handed out by his ministry to organisations which did not qualify for any financing.
“I looked into this matter after hearing complaints about the way funds were being administered. I found that, from my point of view, there was a flagrant disregard and violation of the law when it comes to how the funds were being handed out,” Commissioner Kenneth Wain told the Times of Malta.
He said that, to be eligible for funding, NGOs needed to have registered with his office and presented annual audited accounts to ensure their financial dealings were above board and to ensure against abuses.
Despite this, the Ministry last year approved funding to NGOs which had not registered.
“This was made even more worrying by situations where financial assistance was given out to ineligible NGOs and refused to those who had declared their position,” Prof. Wain said, adding that none of the ineligible organisations had been given any waivers to apply for funding.
It is important that processes are followed accurately – that way there are no question marks over organisations funded by the State
Replying to questions from this newspaper late yesterday, Mr Refalo denied any irregularities in the management of funds. Meanwhile, the commissioner raised further concerns, among them that the Gozo fund had nearly been doubled to €90,000 and it was not clear whether efforts would be made to follow the law when distributing out funds this time round.
“I met with the ministry to discuss the importance of following the law when giving out these funds. It is important that processes are followed accurately – that way there are no question marks over organisations being funded by the State,” he said.
Prof. Wain lamented that it was now too late to redistribute last year’s funds as these had already been spent by the recipient organisations.
“This should be taken as a lesson for the years to come,” he said.
Prof. Wain also questioned why the call for applications for this year’s funds had not yet been issued, when this was normally done at the start of every year. He said he had asked the ministry about this too but received no information.
Earlier this year a new scheme for voluntary organisations totalling €700,000 was rolled out by Social Dialogue Minister Helena Dalli.
While each NGO project would be entitled to a minimum of €5,000 and a maximum of €25,000, with the amount rising to €60,000 if the project was carried out jointly by two or more NGOs, all organisations would have to be fully compliant with Prof. Wain’s commission before receiving any funds.