The timber structure at Carmelo Abela’s house in Żejtun, which the minister told Parliament was built by one person on a Saturday morning.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has so far not responded to calls for an independent inquiry into claims of abuse of power by Foreign Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela.

Mr Abela continues to face flak over claims that, when he headed the home affairs ministry, government employees built a timber structure at his house in Żejtun in 2015 during office hours.

The matter was again raised in Parliament yesterday.

However, questions sent to the Office of the Prime Minister on the matter and, specifically, on whether he would order an independent inquiry, remain unanswered.

The questions were first made on Monday, after The Sunday Times of Malta reported the matter. Reminders were sent again on Wednesday but no replies were forthcoming at the time of writing.

Mr Abela, who denies any abuse and insists he had nothing to hide, did not reply either when asked if he would submit himself to an independent inquiry.

Opposition good governance spokesman Simon Busuttil twice raised the issue in Parliament yesterday but there was no categoric reply by the minister.

Office hour purchases

Mr Abela tabled receipts of material bought to build the veranda. These show that most of the purchases were made during normal office hours. All but one showed the ministry’s carpenter bought the material on weekday mornings.

The only exception is the timber used for the structure, which, according to a receipt, was purchased from Marsa at 11.29pm on Sunday, June 14, 2015.

The material cost €372, according to the receipts.

Mr Abela told Parliament yesterday it was his wife, Melanie, who had discussed with ministry employees to do the work. He said this happened when Ms Abela was speaking to “a childhood friend” who worked at the ministry and who, he added, was now feeding the Times of Malta.

At no time did he order staff to procure the wood

The minister said at no time did he order staff to procure the wood and build the veranda during office hours. The structure, he added, was built in just a few hours on a Saturday morning, when the employee who did the job was not on official duty.

No fiscal receipts for the labour costs were submitted. The employee did not want any payment for his work but Mr Abela said he wanted to give him extra payment on top of the cost of the material. He did not say how much he had paid the worker.

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Noting that The Sunday Times of Malta alleged that senior ministry officials knew about the veranda’s work, he tabled an e-mail from permanent secretary Kevin Mahoney about a “fact-finding exercise” he conducted.

Mr Mahoney wrote that though a ministry employee had, in fact, built the structure, this happened on a Saturday and not during working hours.

He also said that no ministry resources were used.

When first approached on the matter last Saturday, Mr Abela said he did not know who had built the structure or who had commissioned it.

Times of Malta is informed this was not the only case where ministry employees did jobs at the minister’s residence.

ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com