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James Debono
“I want Carmel Cacopardo because he is incorruptible. I want someone of the same integrity, and not some minister’s canvasser whom I cannot trust,” MEPA Auditor Joe Falzon has told MaltaToday.
Falzon is threatening to resign from his post if his recommendation to have Carmel Cacopardo re-appointed as his investigator is not accepted by the MEPA board.
Cacopardo served as Falzon’s investigative officer for the past years until his contract expired in April, only a few weeks before Joe Falzon was formally re-appointed. When Falzon returned in his office in May he found himself without an investigations officer.
So far, MEPA chairman Andrew Calleja has not given an official reason why Cacopardo’s name is being vetoed. MaltaToday has asked MEPA to state the reasons why it is objecting to Cacopardo’s re-appointment. No reply has been forthcoming.
Asked whether Andrew Calleja had ever given him a reason for objecting to Cacopardo, Falzon replied that earlier on this year the MEPA Chairman told him, “I cannot work with Carmel Cacopardo.”
According to Falzon this is not a reason why Cacopardo should not be appointed.
“Carmel Cacopardo works with me and not with the MEPA chairman who has no executive role whatever in MEPA,” Falzon said.
Falzon recalls that the chairman made this remark after a preliminary report, censoring Andrew Calleja for his involvement in meetings with the developer of the Ta’Qali tent, was sent to the MEPA board for comments.
The Audit Officer’s annual report queried the practice of the MEPA chairman meeting developers and objectors in the presence of MEPA’s executive officials, arguing that such meetings could send mixed messages to MEPA’s staff.
The Audit Office recommended that such meetings should be carried out by the Director of Planning and that detailed minutes of such meetings should be kept.
Falzon said he was shocked by MEPA’s attitude towards the Audit Office.
“They should be strengthening the Audit Office to ensure that cases of corruption like those reported in the ADT and the Maritime Authority do not take place. Let’s not forget that while corruption in these authorities involves hundreds of liri, decisions taken by MEPA involve vaster sums of money. That is why MEPA needs this office to safeguard it from such abuses.”
Falzon is still waiting for a meeting with the MEPA chairman to discuss the appointment of a new investigator. Meanwhile, a full time personal assistant has been appointed following the transfer of Falzon’s former secretary.
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