MEPA chairman is allowed to do private work as an architect
When Austin Walker was shoved by this government out of the chairmanship of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority and replaced with Vince Cassar, an architect with a lifetime’s career on the state payroll and a long-retired civil servant, there was much fanfare about how he will be paid only a meagre sum as compared to Walker’s ‘lavish’ salary and perks (lavish by our usual qamel standards).
Now today the news has broken that Cassar, chairman of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, will be allowed to do private work as an architect.
Unbelievable? No, not at all. Or rather, unbelievable only if you swallowed the crap and the Koolaid tas-setta ta’ Joseph and are now looking (and probably also feeling, though you won’t admit it even to yourself) rather foolish.
Guess which architect everyone is going to use now?
“Errrrrm, here we have some plans submitted to the MEPA for approval, by the chairman of the MEPA, wearing his other hat as private architect.”
Ha nghidlek, trid tkun il-vera ghami Laburist biex tghid li din is-sitwazzjoni hafna ahjar milli kellna qabel.
A Great Big Recipe for corruption if ever there was one – and no, corruption does not necessarily involve money.
Vifa l-Lejber. The muesli-eating, mantra-chanting pseudo-environmentalists who voted for change must be so bloody proud of the change they voted for. If they had a decent bone in their body they’d now say that this is not what they wanted and that they don’t think it’s right.
Then they might win back some self-respect.
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We will soon be told that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is allowed to do private work with Super One or consulting with corporations.
Importing fireworks materials.
Dak iz-Zeppi mhux hafi. He doesn’t need to resort to work for that extra buck.
There’s also a Code of Ethics for Government appointed Chairmen and Board members. Will Muscat review this as well? Ghax Malta taghna lkoll.
Through the ruddy looking-glass.
Latest definition of ‘conflict of interest’ : Vince Cassar.
From IM Beck’s column: “On the one hand, he’s an excellent practitioner in his field and his patients, genuinely, need his skills but, on the other hand, the waiver included private and not just public practice, so unless some complex system of foregone compensation has been worked out, the public purse is getting a slightly raw deal.”
No, IM Beck. It’s FILD not FIELD. FILD FILD FILD!
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130421/local/franco-mercieca-it-s-a-storm-in-a-teacup.466334
Veru tal-biki.
Kif qatt tista taccetta li din ma tohloqx konflitt ta’ nteress .. u gravi.
Tal-misthija.
Government should decide whether it wants to pay decent emoluments comparable to responsibility, or to pay peanuts and inviting monkey business.
Or, indeed, adjusting appointments to accomodate financial interests of individuals in defiance of the creation of conflict of interest.
The Labour Party seems to believe that they could do anything they want because of their huge majority of votes. Veru partit abz. except when it comes to their personal needs.
The MEPA chairman and members of its board should not be allowed private practise. However Members of boards in fact do private work.
The problem with the previous MEPA chairman was not only that his salary was higher than other chairmen and high in the Maltese context but also that he was not an architect or a planner.
[Daphne – You don’t have to be one, David. You don’t have to be a tailor to run Gucci, or a doctor to run a hospital. Practice not practise.]
Architects are not necessarily well-trained in planning unless they have specialised in this field.
If, without any sense of shame, this government is going to embark on a policy of granting individual dispensations from acting ethically, without blatant conflicts of interest and in open disregard of long-standing official codes of ethics, our Prime Minister may just as well give a general dispensation from behaving ethically and morally, thus avoiding the suspicion of discrimination on political grounds.
Trid tkun vera iblah biex temmen illi ic-Chairman il-gdid tal-MEPA, Vince Cassar, se jahdem ghal paga ta’ 18K fis-sena u xejn izjed.
Mhux ovja illi il-Gvern se jaccetta illi Vince Cassar jaghmel xoghol privat. Irid ikun mignun.
No you got it all wrong.
He will be allowed to practice creating architectural designs of only particular types… such as an invisible roof on the Tejatru Rjal and land reclamation on the Ghadira nature reserve pond.
….. and maybe on virgin land at Mistra …..
This one is better. MaltaToday reports:
“But unlike Walker, Cassar will be able to supplement his income with private work, as long as it does not conflict with his MEPA duties.”
What is he going to do? Wash dishes in a hotel kitchen?
Is it true they are, in addition to his 18k salary, going to give him unlimited bananas and a tyre hung on a rope from a tree branch (secluded spot naturally)?
Very different treatment from the previous administration where incumbents of senior positions in regulatory authorities were not allowed to take up employment for at least a year after they leave the post with companies with whom the regulatory authority had dealings with.
I cannot believe this. So why do we have a code of ethics? Surely there is some form of code of ethics which regulates these posts. And can anyone explain to me why, even when the code of ethics is being broken nothing happens, can the code be broken without sanction?
Some people are prepared to do anything as long as it permits them to exercise power. Probably, in this case, Vince Cassar would have been prepared to serve as MEPA Chairman even if he were to be paid no honorarium at all.
I was quite surprised by this choice. He has worked all his life in the public sector except for a recent stint monitoring roadworks. Both he and his brother were glorified and extolled by Michael Falzon.
He went on to become DG of the Works Department but on the appointment of Ninu Zammit, he immediately went off to become Perm Sec at the Min of Transport under Mugliett were he was not too successful in curbing doubtfully ethical behaviour.
Since retirement, he has been practising privately but I doubt very much whether he has ever submitted a single MEPA application as my impression is that he was more involved in monitoring roadworks on behalf of public entities.
It would have been more logical to appoint his brother to the role and there may be a spat of sibling rivalry in all this. It remains to be seen how successful he will be in resisting political interference (recent events at MEPA and his history do not augur well) and whether he will succeed in making over this byzantine organization which no one seems able to get a handle on.
jiddispjaċini, għadkom lura wisq, DONNU ħadd m’hu jifhem. TINSEWX BIL-ĦOLMA TAT-TIENI REPUBBLIKA. IVA, DIN HI T-TIENI REPUBBLIKA KOLLOX ALAXANXE’.
EJJA ĦA MMORRU….FREE FOR ALL. Inkella kif nistgħu nkunu servili għal din it-Tieni Repubblika kollha żlieq, FEJN ID-DRITT IKOLLU BŻONN JITGĦAWWEĠ U L-MGĦAWWEĠ INĠIBUH SERP.
why worry? the president of the republic will see to it that the code of ethics is respected. . . What’s the matter ? don’t you believe me ?