PN: Gozo Minister not only defrauded the public, but is also guilty of coverup

Nationalist Party officials says Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri should resign for covering up the squandering of €70,000 that could have benefited Gozitans when employing Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo’s partner Amanda Muscat as con

By: maltatoday.com

Nov 13 2024
32
4776 Views

PN: Gozo Minister not only de

Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri not only defrauded the public, but is also guilty of a coverup, Nationalist Party officials said on Wednesday.

“Instead of focusing on moving Gozo forward, he wasted his energy covering for a minister, squandering €70,000 that could have benefited Gozitans,” Nationalist MP Alex Borg and PN Secretary General Clint Camilleri said outside the Gozo Ministry.

They said the country is governed by ministers who feel they are untouchable. “They can do as they please and can hand over almost €70,000 to a minister’s partner for work that was never carried out.”

The press conference was held in light of the scandal facing Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo and Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri, following a Standards Commissioner report which revealed Bartolo’s wife, Amanda Muscat, had initially been engaged as his private secretary when he was appointed minister. However, Muscat was subsequently appointed policy advisor, a role that saw her pay packet increase significantly. The new role also came with an expertise allowance of €15,000.

When Bartolo and Muscat became romantically involved, she was transferred to the Gozo Ministry as a policy advisor to Clint Camilleri. Her expertise allowance was then increased to €20,000.

“When caught defrauding the public, Minister for Gozo Clint Camilleri said he would "take cognisance." Did he perhaps take cognisance of the fact that the minister’s wife was supposedly his employee? A few days ago, he claimed he didn't even know she was his consultant. Did he take cognisance of the fact that she didn’t work a single hour for him? Because she never even set foot in his Ministry,” the PN said on Wednesday.

They said Camilleri deceived the entire Maltese public, but he stole most from the people of Gozo. “The arrogance levels of Clint Camilleri have reached their peak, as, despite this fraud and cover-up, he did not even bother to apologise to the public, let alone do the honourable thing and resign.”

They said it is up to the Prime Minister to put the interests of Gozo and its people first and dismiss him. “Until he does so, the Prime Minister is complicit and just as guilty as Clint Camilleri of fraud and cover-up.”

The PN also warned Abela that he would be exposed as discriminating not only between the people and his Ministers, but even between his own Ministers themselves.

“In the cases of Justyne Caruana and Rosianne Cutajar Abela acted one way. Will he do the same with Clint Camilleri and Clayton Bartolo?” they said. “The Prime Minister should also demand that both ministers return the money they defrauded from the public.”