Malta Tourism Authority chairman Gavin Gulia has strongly denied he wants to be appointed chief executive of the authority in the wake of a newspaper report which made allegations of wrongdoing against the existing CEO.
During an MTA board meeting last week, Dr Gulia was accused by fellow board members of knowing beforehand of a leak in the pro-Labour newspaper l-Orizzont which made certain claims against MTA CEO Josef Formosa Gauci, The Sunday Times of Malta has learnt.
The front page story in l-Orizzont alleged that Mr Formosa Gauci, who has been at the helm of the MTA since 2008, pocketed €23,000 in allowances for not using a chauffeur-driven car but still used a car provided by the authority.
Whoever is spreading these false rumours should know that I am not interested in these games
Sources told this newspaper that during a rowdy board meeting Dr Gulia vehemently denied the accusation that he knew the newspaper leak was going to appear and insisted that he only got to know about the details of the CEO’s contract a few days before the meeting.
Both Mr Formosa Gauci and the MTA board denied the allegations which appeared in l-Orizzont, stating that they were completely fabricated.
According to MTA sources, the story is part of an ongoing internal turf war between Tourism Minister Karmenu Vella, who favours the renewal of Mr Formosa Gauci’s contract when it expires at the end of May, and Dr Gulia who is seeking the job himself.
“Everyone at MTA knows that Dr Gulia wants Mr Formosa Gauci’s job. He already almost spends all day at the MTA offices,” the sources said.
However, confronted with these allegations, Dr Gulia categorically denied these “rumours” and said that they were only intended to harm his position and reputation.
“I am absolutely not interested in this post and have complete faith in the competence and integrity of Mr Formosa Gauci,” an angry Dr Gulia said.
“Whoever is spreading these false rumours should know that I am not interested in these games. I have my profession [law] and am determined to stick to it,” he told The Sunday Times of Malta.
Mr Formosa Gauci did not want to comment although he said that the story in l-Orizzont “was clearly intended to harm me at a time when my contract is up for renewal”.
Asked whether it was true that some in the MTA were lobbying to take his job, he said that at this stage he would prefer not to comment.
Dr Vella has strongly denied any wrongdoing by the CEO and publicly endorsed Mr Formosa Gauci’s performance.
Following the MTA’s board meeting last Tuesday, convened specifically to tackle the internal strife and media allegations, all members of the board, including Dr Gulia expressed “full trust” in Mr Formosa Gauci.
In a brief statement, the MTA said that it found nothing to censure his conduct and declared that what was reported in the press was “evidently the result of wrong information.”