The Labour Party has demanded explanations from Finance Miniter Tonio Fenech after he revealed yesterday that Air Malta has engaged Catalise Ltd to manage the restructuring process.

Last week it was officially announced that Ray Hart had been appointed as Air Malta restructuring officer, but no mention was made about Catalise.

Mr Hart is the CEO of Catalise.

The Labour Party observed that one of the first decisions taken by new Air Malta CEO Peter Davies was to engage Mr Hart. Mr Hart then engaged Neale Anderson as Human Resources Manager.

Mr Hart and Mr Anderson are partners in Catalise. The Catalise website includes a testimonial by Mr Davies.

The Labour Party asked whether Air Malta is paying Catalise, or Mr Hart and Mr Anderson individually. It also asked how much was being paid.

Such lack of transparency, the PL said, was a concern to the families of Air Malta staff, who were being asked to make sacrifices by Mr Davies himself.

In his comments yesterday, Mr Fenech said that Catalise has a six-month contract, with a brief to temporarily fill key management posts which are currently vacant - such as chief financial officer, human resources manager, and to train Maltese staff who will eventually take over.

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