ADPD – The Green Party Chairperson and EP candidate Sandra Gauci has called for an investigation into the allocation of European funds that raise serious suspicions whether these were granted on merit or as a result of political influence and family connections. She was addressing a press conference this morning in Tas-Sliema together with the ADPD Secretary General and EP candidate Dr Ralph Cassar.
ADPD Secretary General and EP candidate Ralph Cassar said that when Malta joined the European Union many were looking forward to a situation where the country moves forward with merit-based decisions and the granting of more civil rights that in other countries were taken for granted such as divorce as well as access to funds for the country to continue developing. While with a lot of hard work including a referendum and battles of civil society as well as ours as a party we managed to acquire some of the civil rights, as a nation we seem to have become experts in how to acquire funds even when these are the result of a conflict of interest and abuse.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office alone has opened 14 fraud cases against Malta over EU funds estimated to total more than 123.5 million Euros. This does not bode well for Malta’s reputation especially since we have not been off the FATF grey list for a long time. But apparently, we still have a long way to go. When you have a government that was a elected after 25 years of PN with the slogan of “You can work with us” and with the pledge that they would remove or reduce the trade-for-favours mentality and you see how it is operating today you realize that that was nothing but a smokescreen and empty words aimed to seize power at all costs: power that now after more than 10 years is clouding its judgment and an attitude that it is above every law and authority.
ADPD – The Green Party Chairperson and EP candidate Sandra Gauci said that one should not only pay attention to using taxpayers’ money judiciously but that this should also apply to EU funds. This is especially so in the current crisis when many are finding it difficult to cope with cost of living in the face of the energy crisis impacting an entire continent. In these circumstances, cases of suspected abuse are much less tolerated.
Following reports of two serious cases of suspected abuse of EU funds published in the media in a couple of weeks, one realises that profiting without merit in Malta has become institutionalized and accepted as if it were the norm. Favours and nepotism have become a leadership style.
The involvement of the Minister of Agriculture Anton Refalo in the allocation of EU funds for his personal project raises serious concerns about the integrity and responsibility of the government. The revelation that around €270,000 in European funds were given to a company owned by the minister’s wife, Michelina Refalo, for the development of a “yoga-meditation” hotel calls for a careful investigation about this matter. The most disturbing aspect of this revelation is the apparent conflict of interest. Despite not being directly associated with the application or the company receiving the funds, Minister Refalo’s connection to the property is undeniable, as it is listed in his asset declaration. This raises legitimate questions about whether the funds were awarded on merit or as a result of political influence.
A week later it was also revealed how a company owned by the three children of former MEP Louis Grech was given aid of €450,000 from European funds. The application for these funds was made when Grech was still an MEP and was finalized in 2017. This amount was given when this scheme was controlled by the Maltese government and until now this project is still in its early phases.
We as ADPD are concerned about all this and we ask that a serious investigation be carried out on how these funds were given, and whether there was abuse in the allocation as well as whether insiders and family members were unfairly rewarded. These reasonable suspicions clearly show how far we are still from a country run on merit where everyone has an equal chance depending on their abilities, Gauci concluded.
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ADPD isejjaħ għal investigazzjonijiet dwar allokazzjoni ta’ fondi Ewropej
Iċ-Chairperson ta’ ADPD – The Green Party u kandidata għall-Parlament Ewropew Sandra Gauci sejħet għal investigazzjoni dwar allokazzjoni ta’ fondi Ewropej li jqajmu suspetti serji dwar kemm ingħataw fuq mertu nkella bħala riżultat ta’ influwenza politika u qrubija familjari. Din għamlitu waqt konferenza stampa indirizzata dalgħodu f’Tas-Sliema flimkien mas-Segretarju Ġenerali ta’ ADPD – The Green Party u kandidat għal Parlament Ewropew Dr Ralph Cassar.
Is-Segretarju Ġenerali ta’ ADPD – The Green Party u kandidat għal Parlament Ewropew Ralph Cassar semma li meta Malta daħlet fl-Unjoni Ewropea il-ħolma ta’ ħafna kienet li jkun hemm sitwazzjoni fejn il-pajjiż jimxi aktar b’ mertu fejn ikun hemm aktar drittijiet ċivili li f’pajjiżi oħra kienu xi ħaġa normali bħad-divorzju kif ukoll aċċess għal fondi biex il-pajjiż ikompli jiżviluppa. Minn dan kollu b’ħafna sagrifiċċji, referendum u battalji tas-soċjetà ċivili kif ukoll tagħna bħala partit irnexxielna nakkwistaw ftit mid-drittijiet ċivili imma sirna esperti ta’ kif nakkwistaw fondi anke meta dawn ikunu frott ta’ kunflitt ta’ interess u xi drabi jispiċċaw abbużati.
L-Uffiċċju tal-Prokuratur Pubbliku Ewropew biss biss fetaħ 14-il każ kontra Malta dwar dak li għandu x’jaqsam ma’ frodi minn fondi tal-UE stmati li jammontaw għal-aktar minn 123.5 miljun Euro. Dan ma jawgurax tajjeb għar-reputazzjoni ta’ Malta speċjalment hekk kif m’ilniex li konna fil-lista l-griża tal-FATF u rridu nuru li biddilna r-rotta. Imma milli jidher għadna ‘l-bogħod. Meta għandek gvern li tela’ wara 25 sena ta’ PN bl-għajta ta’ “Magħna tista’ taħdem” u bil-wegħda li kienu se jneħħu jew inaqqsu l-pjaċiri, u tara kif qegħdin illum tinduna li dak ma kien xejn għajr gideb u kliem fierah biex jikkapparraw il-poter: poter li issa wara aktar minn 10 snin tela’ għal rashom u qegħdin jistħajluhom ‘il-fuq minn kull liġi u awtorità.
Iċ-Chairperson tal-ADPD u kandidata għall-Parlament Ewropew Sandra Gauci qalet li mhux biss flus il-poplu għandhom jintużaw bil-galbu imma wkoll il-fondi tal-UE. Dan għax qegħdin ngħixu f’mument fejn ħafna qed isibuha diffiċli biex ilaħħqu mal-ħajja u jaffrontaw il-kriżi tal-enerġija li ħatfet kontinent sħiħ. Allura każi fejn fejn huwa suspettat abbuż huma ħafna nqas ittollerati.
Meta f’temp ta’ ġimgħa joħorgu fil-midja żewġ każi serji ta’ suspettat abbuż minn fondi tal-UE tinduna kemm li wieħed jipprova jieħu gwadann anke jekk mhux ġustifikat f’ Malta sar istituzzjonalizzat u aċċettat daqs li kieku normali. Ix-xejn mhu xejn sar stil ta’ tmexxija.
L-involviment tal-Ministru tal-Agrikoltura Anton Refalo fl-allokazzjoni ta’ fondi tal-UE għal proġett personali tiegħu qajjem tħassib serju dwar l-integrità u r-responsabbiltà tal-gvern. Ir-rivelazzjoni li madwar €270,000 f’fondi tal-UE ingħataw lil kumpanija proprjetà ta’ mart il-ministru, Michelina Refalo, għall-iżvilupp ta’ lukanda “yoga-meditation” ma tħalli l-ebda għażla ħlief li titlob investigazzjoni bir-reqqa dwar din il-kwistjoni.
L-aktar aspett inkwetanti ta’ din ir-rivelazzjoni huwa l-kunflitt evidenti ta’ interess. Minkejja li mhux assoċjat direttament mal-applikazzjoni jew mal-kumpanija li tirċievi l-fondi, ir-rabta tal-Ministru Refalo mal-proprjetà hija innegabbli, peress li hija mniżżla fid-dikjarazzjoni tal-assi tiegħu. Dan iqajjem mistoqsijiet leġittimi dwar jekk il-fondi ngħatawx fuq mertu jew bħala riżultat ta’ influwenza politika.
Ġimgħa wara nkixef ukoll kif kumpanija li tagħha huma s-sidien it-tlett itfal tal-ex-MEP Louis Grech tingħata għajnuna ta’ 450,000 Euro minn fondi Ewropej. L-applikazzjoni għal dawn il-fondi saret meta Grech kien għadu MEP u ġiet iffinalizzata fl-2017. Dan l-ammont ingħata meta din l-iskema kienet ikkontrollata mil-gvern Malti u sa issa dan il-proġett għadu fil-fażijiet bikrin tiegħu.
Aħna bħala ADPD imħassba dwar dan kollu u nitolbu li ssir investigazzjoni serja dwar kif ingħataw dawn il-fondi, u jekk kienx hemm abbuż fl-allokazzjoni kif ukoll jekk ġewx aġevolati nies ta’ ġewwa u familjari. Dawn is-suspetti raġjonevoli juru biċ-ċar kemm għadna ‘l-bogħod milli jkollna pajjiż immexxi b’ mod ġust fejn kulħadd jitqies l-istess, temmet tgħid Gauci.
