The prime minister’s statement re Tancred Tabone, released yesterday
I cannot accept that persons, appointed to safeguard the public interest on public entities, betray the trust that has been placed in them.
Thus it is with profound disappointment that I have learned about the arraignment of Mr Tancred Tabone, a prominent member of the business community, in connection with events that allegedly took place while he was responsible for safeguarding the public interest on the board of a public corporation. The fact that these events appear to have taken place some nine years ago and that Mr Tabone’s appointment as chairman of Enemalta Corporation had not been renewed in 2005 is no comfort to me at all.
The behaviour of persons appointed to boards of public entities is regulated by both the law and the established Code of Ethics for Board Directors in the Public Sector. Notwithstanding the good work that might be done by an individual in his private capacity, I reiterate that I cannot accept that any appointees, let alone leaders in our community, betray the trust that has been placed in them.
In such situations they undermine the confidence of the general public not only in public institutions in general, and in the management of certain public sector entities in particular, but also in the private sector – which must remain the pillar for growth and proper management of resources in this open economy of ours. The law and a separate established Code of Ethics for Employees in the Public Sector apply also to employees of such public entities.
Mr Tabone was incumbent chairman of Enemalta and of the Mediterranean Offshore Bunkering Co Ltd when I became Prime Minister in 2004. His two-year appointment was not renewed when it expired on 30th June 2005. His membership of public boards after that day was restricted to positions nominated by the Malta Chamber of Commerce and later the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry.
Mr Tabone served as president of this Chamber, having led the then Malta Chamber of Commerce to its merger with the Malta Federation of Industry in 2008; he was also nominated by the Chamber’s to serve as its representative on the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development and Malta Enterprise.
In August 2003 Mr Tabone, in his capacity as Enemalta chairman, gave Mr Frank Sammut a 1-year consultancy appointment which, according to Enemalta’s records, was not renewed on instructions from Minister Austin Gatt. Mr Sammut was a Member of the Enemalta Board between 1987 and 1990 and, according to Enemalta’s records, he was a member of its fuel procurement committee between 1987 and 1998.
Mr Sammut was also appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Mediterranean Offshore Bunkering Co Ltd in August 2000 while Mr Tabone served as that Company’s chairman (1999 – 2005). I am also informed that Mr Sammut was an officer or employee of the Mediterranean Offshore Bunkering Co Ltd between 1988 and July 2004, when his employment was terminated.
It is not for me to disclose the details of the case against Mr Tabone and Mr Sammut. That is a matter for the police. I have done everything in my power to facilitate the investigation of all allegations, including issuing an amnesty to whoever was prepared to collaborate and give evidence in court that will expose all wrongdoing.
I ask the media and members of the public to await the outcome of proceedings and to allow justice to take its course in the interest of all.
However, I have to state in the most unequivocal terms that any elements of corruption or trading in influence will continue to be hunted by our national institutions while I have any form of responsibility for the public administration of this country. Any individual, whether he or she is an officer or employee of the public administration or deals with such persons, will have to answer for his or her actions – as others, some high profile and others less so, have already done during past Nationalist administrations.
Legal powers and measures have continued to be strengthened over the years, including major increases in penalties and the enactment of the Freedom of Information Act.
Other changes remain necessary. Apart from the enactment of two Bills proposed in the outgoing legislature which included the extension of the prescription period in corruption cases, the introduction of a special prosecutor attached to the Anti-Corruption Commission, extending the remit of the Anti-Corruption Commission substantially, and providing for the chairman of this Anti-Corruption Commission to be appointed by Parliament (through a two-thirds vote), the Nationalist Party in its Electoral Programme is proposing more measures for the next legislature which include the confiscation of all assets that may be generated from corruption, the further increase of prison sentences for crimes involving corruption, and the removal of the possibility of probation or suspended sentences in corruption cases.
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And how it was quoted on the Maltastar cesspit:
“It is with profound disappointment that I have learned about the arraignment of Mr Tancred Tabone, a prominent member of the business community, in connection with events that allegedly took place while he was responsible for safeguarding the public interest on the board of a public corporation.
“The fact that these events appear to have taken place some nine years ago and that Mr Tabone’s appointment as chairman of Enemalta Corporation had not been renewed in 2005 is no comfort to me at all.”
This is a great statement and this is when the Prime Minister shines above the rest.
Nonetheless, Gonzi and his ministers should have been more careful in appointing certain individuals on certain boards and as chairman of various institutions.
So many individuals have been placed on boards just because they are affiliated to the minister or party with the result that they just sit there receiving their allowance. Not all board members are that way, but unfortunately a large number are.
Worse, there are instances when appointees have a conflict of interest but they are still appointed. This is not directly linked to corruption but some individuals are known to be easily accessible or linked to various companies.
I fully agree with the prime minister’s statement but the government’s system of appointing chairmanships and board of director posts could have been more responsible and accountable in recent years.
I am totally off the point here but I need to address a point raised by Kenneth Zammit Tabona – as shown on your blog yesterday (or Monday).
Kenneth Zammit Tabona said that persons who write here post under a nom-de-plume because they are ashamed of their own opinions and do not stand up for what they believe in public.
I publicly inform Kenneth Zammit Tabona that I’ve posted using a nom-de-plume on this site and others not because I’m ashamed of my opinion but rather because I’m afraid of what the people he is so busily courting now might do to me – and worse still, quite frankly my family – when they find themselves with an inch of power in their hands just because I dared speak out.
Yes, Kenneth, you might have switched now but the people who have now become your bosom buddies are still the dictatorial people who have laced my childhood with fear and who ruined my parents’ lives.
They are still the same – and even though you are disgruntled because your little theatre didn’t get its precious little roof – that doesn’t make these people any less dangerous and threatening.
So, no, I will not, for now, use my real name. But believe me, out and about, I still speak my mind and I fully stand by what I write here out there in public. And I can assure you that if life deals me the bad hand of running into you in some public event, I assure you that I will tell you who I am and how unashamed I am of my opinions and beliefs.
It is you who should be ashamed of your beliefs because when a person switches his beliefs with so much light-heartedness, it means he was spineless to begin with. Shame on you.
One last thing: you have one brazen neck to expect the State (i.e. me and thousands of other hard-working individuals) to pay for your extravagant lifestyle. Go and get yourself a proper job or cut down on your expenditure if you can’t make ends meet – or else release your houseboy. What a scrounger.
Same here.
Doesn’t he have two house boys?
@ Lomax: I’ve always known Kenneth as living well beyond his means.
@ JPS: could not have said it better. One such individual who reaped and reaped in benefits as a director at Mid Med Bank and subsequently at Air Malta is Paul Bonello who now has the nerve to go and have a bash at the Prime Minister at the MLP meeting at Zabbar.
Kenneth always had a cushy job at Mid Med Bank and elsewhere. He admits himself that after ‘x’ years at the bank he still passed out at the sight of numbers. But yet he was a high flyer who defied the laws of gravity through his connections with the powers that be at the bank at the time.
They lost me sometime last week with this ‘scandal’. I mean, why insist on going after Tonio Fenech, only to have the minister reduce their argument to the shambles it is?
Did anyone notice the expression on Joseph’s face as Lou Bondi underlined the strict protocols to be followed during investigations? A blank stare as it sank in that no, he won’t have absolute power, that Evarist’s fetish for manipulation, sleaze, blackmail and spite won’t be reality.
Will someone please tell me how they arrive at the conclusion that we’re under attack to this day?
When Joseph makes it a point to say ‘dak li gara, u li jista jkun ghadu qed jigri’, wouldn’t it have been better if Evarist spoke earlier?
Or am I to suspect Evarist was party to the takings, only to be kicked out at some point thus his revelations?
See how easy it is Evarist, with your innuendoes and that fuchsia tie? I suppose you can’t talk education.
You’re a conspiracy website peppered with links to the weird videos alongside Lowell’s rants.
Not surprised the nerds love you, nor am I at the discrepancy in number of girls and boys respectively in your I’m In.
You can’t get yourself to accuse Gatt of corruption, but will wallow in suspicion, it helps keep the bile ready. Wankers.
Well said, Jozef.
Totally agree about Bartolo.