Carmel Cacopardo

Reading through the Fortina inquiry report drawn up by the National Audit Office (NAO) one can pinpoint a specific issue without which this undervalued deal would not have developed, at least, in the way it did.

Why was a Lands Authority Chief Executive Officer who was involved in business appointed to the role? Is it not reasonable to expect that the Chief Executive Officer of the Lands Authority dedicates his undivided attention to his brief? Having, in addition, a number of companies to manage (or monitor) simultaneously, some belonging to himself, others in partnership with other business interests is playing with fire. It is a recipe for disaster. Definitely not conducive to good governance.

If the Chief Executive Officer had cut all his business ties prior to his Lands Authority appointment, some past contacts could create a conflict of interest. This would be natural if it were to occur. But since the Chief Executive Officer retained his business interests ongoing throughout his appointment it is logical to expect that conflicts of interest would be of a more frequent nature. Both real conflicts as well as potential ones.

In these circumstances it is logical to doubt what may lie behind each and every payment received through business which is unrelated to his Lands Authority brief. This doubt arises even if there exists a plausible explanation for every payment made. Past allegations concerning movement of substantial funds in foreign jurisdictions make matters even worse. This is further compounded by the unexplained leaks of sensitive information from the Lands Authority straight to the interested party, which leaks the Auditor-General refers to in his report.

The Lands Authority is no ordinary regulator. It is the guardian of Malta’s most precious resource: public land and property. It is imperative that this resource is managed with the utmost care, continuously in the public interest.

The basic problem faced is not only existent in the circumstances related to the Fortina case. It runs right through the whole public sector set-up. I have already written about it in these columns. It is the capture of state institutions by those interested in moulding decisions to their liking or to the benefit of a specific interest or interests. They do it either directly or through agents which are planted in the institutions, ensuring that they are appointed to positions which have a direct impact on decisions and decision-taking. The net result being that the interested party or lobbyist, through his or her agents, runs the show. This is why revolving-door recruitment is the worst (and most effective) lobbying.

The Commissioner for Standards in Public Life, in a recent decision, delivered a couple of months ago had emphasised that, to date, unfortunately, lobbying is still unregulated. (TMIS: Standards in Public Life: deconstructing the Commissioner’s decision. 20 July 2025) As a direct consequence it is still possible to have unregulated revolving-door recruitment from business straight into the core of the public sector and its institutions. Even with all the imaginable good will it is impossible to control the consequential rot. In the absence of good will the consequential rot becomes an objective.

This is the elephant in the room. It is manifesting itself continuously in the political appointments, positions of trust, whose incidence has increased exponentially. These are appointments which value and give priority to loyalty towards the political master and relegate the public interest to a secondary position, if at all.

There are various instances documented in the NAO Fortina report which led to the inevitable question: in whose interest was this decision taken? The NAO in the Fortina report at times underlines this train of thought by stating that “safeguarding the public interest demanded otherwise”.

The ethical behaviour of those administering the public sector leaves much to be desired. This is, in part, the direct consequence of the political reluctance to regulate lobbying and revolving-door recruitment into the public sector. Meanwhile the rot spreads and the institutional capture proceeds unhindered.

Carmel Cacopardo is ADPD-The Green Party Deputy Chairperson

published in The Malta Independent on Sunday: 28 September 2025