Neither the government nor the police would give details on the irregularities allegedly committed by three senior Gozo Ministry employees suspended more than a month ago.

A Gozo Ministry spokesman confirmed that the three employees, including a director, were still suspended in agreement with the Public Service Commission.

However, he did not specify whether they were still receiving their salary and benefits.

Times of Malta is informed that the allegations were made by another senior ministry employee, who claimed there had been various irregularities in the way road constructions tenders were assigned both when the ministry was under the political responsibility of Anton Refalo and also under Giovanna Debono during the last Nationalist administration.

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According to the information reaching the Times of Malta, the same employee had made similar claims in November 2013 but no action is known to have been taken at the time.

The ministry spokesman would not say what the claimed irregularities consisted of nor why no action was taken despite the 2013 reports. He only reiterated that a magisterial inquiry was ongoing while underlining that the claims were about work carried out since 2004.

“Alleged irregularities in road construction tenders from 2004 onwards were reported to the police by the Ministry for Gozo in November 2013 and again in the past weeks,” the spokesman said.

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“This information resulted in a court inquiry which is still ongoing.”

The police were tight-lipped on the claims made and the investigations in progress.

No replies were forthcoming from the office of the Police Commissioner on whether precautionary measures were taken to avoid any possible conflict of interest, given that Deputy Police Commissioner Silvio Valletta, who heads the criminal investigation department and the economic crimes unit, is married to Gozo Minister Justyne Caruana.

Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar is on record saying he saw no conflict of interest between Mr Valletta’s role and his wife’s position as a member of Cabinet.