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Karl Schembri
The National Orchestra lost Lm1,522 after political pressure to perform without charging its normal fees to the WelcomEurope consortium for the celebrations of Malta’s entry into the EU.
The pressure, which led former National Orchestra Chairman, Mario Tabone-Vassallo, to resign, was confirmed by Tourism and Culture Minister Francis Zammit Dimech in Parliament last Tuesday when answering a Parliamentary Question put by Labour MP Carmelo Abela.
Zammit Dimech said that the celebrations cost the National Orchestra a total of Lm3,330 but only Lm1,808 was paid.
The concert was not originally included in the programme and tender by WelcomEurope, and was only staged following Zammit Dimech’s insistence with the organisers to use the National Orchestra for the stipulated fee.
The minister justified the difference as “the orchestra’s contribution for these celebrations, which were of a historical nature”.
But what Zammit Dimech is calling a “contribution” in fact went against the former chairman’s refusal to operate at a loss at a time when the orchestra was in a dire financial situation.
Tabone-Vassallo resigned last October citing the “political pressure to stage the concert at very low prices” as the main reason behind his decision.
Without giving further explanations, the minister said in parliament that Lm1,808 was actually paid by Where’s Everybody, which was only one part of the consortium exclusively entrusted by government with organising the national celebrations.
In October the former chairman had also instructed the orchestra’s legal advisor to seek legal action against the consortium for outstanding fees for the concert featuring Joseph Calleja and Miriam Gauci, on the eve of Malta’s accession to the EU.
However, in reply to Abela’s question, Zammit Dimech said the fees had been paid by Where’s Everybody, although he failed to say when the payment was made.
karl@newsworksltd.com
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