Rispett? Dan xi jkun?
Kultant joħorġu rapporti li qabel biss tiftaħhom diġà tkun taf x'fihom. Il-bieraħ, għad-dilettanti tas-sewwa, ħareġ rapport tal-Uffiċċju Nazzjonali tal-Awditjar dwar kif il-Kunsilli Lokali jonfqu l-flus tal-poplu.
Ritratt: Mario Calleja (Facebook)
Minn dan ir-rapport (link fil-qiegħ tal-paġna) jispikkaw il-Kunsilli ta' Wied il-Għajn u tal-Mosta. Fost oħrajn:
"It was common practice amongst two of the four Local Councils reviewed, namely Mosta and Marsaskala, to procure goods and services directly from the open market, without even obtaining three quotations.
To circumvent the issue of a public call for quotes or tenders, at times procurement was intentionally fragmented into separate lots, each not exceeding €5,000 excluding Value Added Tax (VAT)." (pġ 38)
"Valid agreements substantiating rental expenses incurred by three of the Councils, namely Marsaskala, Mdina and Mosta, for properties leased out from third parties, were not traced." (pġ 38)
"In breach of Article 34(1) of the Local Government Act, income generated by Marsaskala and Mosta, through the lease of property to third parties, was not covered by a bye-law." (pġ 39)
"However, instances were encountered in all four Councils whereby these were either not uploaded within the stipulated period or not uploaded at all. Moreover, not all minutes uploaded by Marsaskala Local Council were marked as ‘iffirmati’." (pġ 39)
"The carrying forward of unutilised vacation leave to 2022 and 2023 by the Marsaskala and Mdina Councils’ employees, was not approved during a Council meeting, as required by Article 20(1) of the Local Councils (Human Resources) Regulations."
"Councillors’ absences from Council meetings were not always supported by an apology letter, detailing a valid reason for the absence. Of particular concern was the absence of a Marsaskala Councillor, who failed to attend 7 out of the 13 meetings held during 2022, whilst never providing an apology letter to indicate whether such absences were due to a justified reason." (pġ. 40)
"During 2022, the Council paid over €6,000 to an individual providing the service of a librarian. While the hourly rate payable was established by the Malta Libraries Department, claims for reimbursement, as submitted by the librarian to the Council, were not substantiated with attendance records." (pġ 40)
"The payment of €5,288 to the Community Workers Scheme Enterprise, for performance bonuses due to the community workers engaged with the Council, was not supported by adequate documentation, illustrating how the quoted amount was derived. An unsigned spreadsheet, indicating the score given and amount paid to each individual, was eventually provided when the audit was concluded, and following the Council’s submission of its reply to the management letter." (pġ 41)
"A formal report detailing the result of the Council’s twinning agreement, benefits derived, and a statement of all the expenditure related to the agreement, was not drawn up following the attendance of five delegates to the Annual General Meeting held in Slovenia. Only informal notes were maintained; these neither included the date when they were prepared nor by whom. The Council claimed that the minutes of the meeting are usually prepared by the host city and are sent to participants within eleven months to be corrected before the next meeting." (pġ 41)
X'erba' kampjuni tal-governanza għandna fil-Kunsilli hux!
Mario Calleja ilu sindku mill-2006; minn qiegħ qalbi ngħidlu li kull minuta kienet żejda. Tul dawn is-snin, Calleja ffoka fuq l-alleanzi man-negozjanti tar-raħal, u l-fatt li hu ma' Wied il-Għajn m'għandu xejn x'jaqsam jidher fil-ħidma tiegħu.
Tant jaqa' u jqum minn niesna li kien fetaħ petizzjoni fis-Summer Nights (li qabduh ibagħbas fil-meter) fejn ġabar il-firem biex Sadeen jisirqu ż-Żonqor (ħa anke r-rigal mingħand "il-Ġordaniż"); ma deher imkien fuq il-kwistjoni tal-marina, biex imbagħad sirna nafu li kien qed jippromwoviha minn taħt.
Tista' tibqa' sejra l-lista ta' dak li għamel, u speċjalment li m'għamilx Calleja. Ir-renju tiegħu huwa falliment assolut; sindku bla sinsla, mingħajr il-kapaċità jaqbeż għar-residenti, li ġab lil Wied il-Għajn ikreh, itqal, u dejjem iżjed fgat f'isem "il-wirt" li skont hu jħallu n-negozjanti.
Dan ir-rapport huwa prova oħra ta' kemm is-Sindku u parti kbira mill-Kunsill m'għandhomx jiġu fdati bil-poter.
Issa naraw kif se jġib ruħu l-Kunsill quddiem żewġ applikazzjonijiet għal żewġ supermarkits f'ODZ, il-Jerma, u s-serq tal-ispazji pubbliċi - bankini inklużi - mill-"komunità tan-negozjanti" ta' Wied il-Għajn.
Li hu ċert hu li wasal żmien għal tindifa. Ta' min inlestu xkupi u xkupilji.
