The Nationalist Party used comments made in the past by Education Minister Evarist Bartolo to criticise him today over his handling of an alleged corruption case involving a senior ministry official.

Therese Comodini Cachia and George Pullicino said there was a world of difference between words and fact where Mr Bartolo was concerned.

George Pullicino

They were referring to the reported resignation of Philip Rizzo as CEO of the Foundation for Tomorrow's Schools after he alleged corruption by a ministry official in the granting of direct orders.

The PN officials observed that the minister had not set up an independent investigation, he did not suspend Edward Carauana, the person mentioned in the case  and the minister had not said anything about the real reason behind Mr Rizzo's resignation, if he had truly resigned.  

If anything, Mr Bartolo confirmed that in this country “hemm liġi għall-allat u liġi għall-annimali” (there is a law for the gods and a law for the animals) where a minister's canvasser was neither suspended nor sacked, in contrast to other members of the civil service who were suspended for less serious reasons than corruption.   

Mr Bartolo had been right when he said that:  “aktar ma l-affarijiet jinbidlu aktar jibqgħu l-istess” (the more things change, the more they remain the same).

The people expected corruption to be tackled through effective action, not just words. 

Ministry of Education explains

The Ministry of Education yesterday said that as soon as the allegations were made, Mr Bartolo ordered an internal investigation and then called in the police. 

The person allegedly involved was removed from the ministry  and an investigation was also ordered by Internal Audit and Investigations Department. 

In a further statement today, the Ministry of Education said Mr Caruana could not be suspended before a formal charge was made but the minister had promptly removed him from all posts within the ministry, a full two months before the story hit the headlines.

The ministry also pointed out that when Mr Rizzo informed the minister that he was resigning he did not give the alleged corruption as his reason, but rather a disagreement with the foundation's chairman on office cleaning hours.