We’ve reached the end of the year, and “they” – meaning anyuone close to the Labour Party – just can’t stop themselves from pigging out, the Nationalist Party said Saturday.
Amidst the series of reckless squandering scandals of public funds by Robert Abela and his Ministers, it’s now Justyne Caruana’s turn – the former Minister who had to resign twice – to receive yet another direct order, the PN said in a statement.
In the Government Gazette during the Christmas holidays, a notice was published stating that Justyne Caruana is earning €78,000 per year from taxpayers’ money for 30 hours of work per week, paid at a rate of €50 per hour. According to the notice published on Friday, Justyne Caruana has been receiving these tens of thousands since July.
It’s unclear where she works, what she does, or whether she even attends work anywhere, the PN said. It’s also unknown on what criteria she was selected over others. The direct order was issued by Clyde Caruana’s Ministry of Finance, under whose leadership the country reached a record level of debt. According to the notice, Justyne Caruana is advising the Minister on how to collect more tax, the PN said.
Justyne Caruana had to resign twice from her role as Minister due to different scandals. In January 2020, she resigned as Minister for Gozo after it was revealed that her ex-husband, Silvio Valletta, was very close to Yorgen Fenech, who is accused of complicity in the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Despite this, she found herself back in Cabinet as Minister for Education until December 2021, when the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life found that Justyne Caruana had violated the Code of Ethics by awarding a €15,000 contract to her friend Daniel Bogdanovic, despite him lacking any qualifications.
This scandal adds to the long list of cases of abuse of power, corruption, and money laundering. Following the scandals involving Rosianne Cutajar and Amanda Muscat, the wife of former Minister Clayton Bartolo, who were caught fraudulently and irregularly taking public funds, Robert Abela seems to have learned nothing, the PN said.
Rosianne Cutajar’s infamous remark that “everyone is in it for themselves” has become the order of the day for the Labour Government.
This case shows that Robert Abela is even favouring those who are no longer considered part of his inner circle. After Justyne Caruana was sidelined twice, it now seems he is trying to buy her loyalty back with this contract, which, as revealed today, is backdated to July of this year, the PN said.
A few weeks ago, Abela himself implied he was doing everything possible to bring Caruana back when he publicly welcomed her at a Labour political event in Gozo. Amidst words of praise for the former Minister, he told her he believes the country still needs her.
Corruption seems to have been and will remain a defining characteristic of Robert Abela’s leadership. This is institutionalised corruption, the PN said.
The statement was signed by Graham Bencini, Shadow Minister for Finance
