What ministerial code of ethics? Dalli makes Galdes’ wife a WasteServ director

The wife of Social Accommodation Minister Roderick Galdes, Joanne Galdes, has been appointed to a board of directors, The Shift can report, in yet another circumvention of the ministerial code of ethics.

In what has become something of a trend in Cabinet circles of late, ministers are being allowed to bypass the very spirit of their own code of ethics by having their immediate family members employed or appointed as consultants by other ministers.

Joanna Galdes, who according to her husband’s parliamentary declaration of assets was incomeless in 2021, will be earning thousands of euros for attending the waste collection and treatment agency’s board meetings.

According to the ministerial code of ethics, whose guardian is the prime minister himself, ministers and parliamentary secretaries are strictly precluded from employing or giving other appointments to immediate family members.

But since Prime Minister Robert Abela took the helm at Castille, many of his ministers began having their immediate family members taken in by their Cabinet colleagues instead.

In this latest case of nepotism gone wild, Minister Galdes’ wife was appointed by Environment Minister Miriam Dalli, under whose remit WasteServ falls. According to the company’s last financial report, its board shared €82,000 in director’s fees in 2021. Mrs Galdes appears to have no qualifications in any subject matter related to WasteServ’s activities.

In addition to Galdes’ wife, Dalli has also appointed Helen Caruana as the company’s deputy chairperson. Caruana is the sister of former justice minister and current Labour Party MP Edward Zammit Lewis.

According to his latest available declaration of assets, Roderick Galdes reported that in addition to his Luqa residence, he also owns, together with his wife, a house in Qormi, another in Gozo and an unconverted property in Siggiewi. They also declared ownership of two offices in Qormi, a studio apartment in the UK and a house with surrounding agricultural land in Sicily.

Mrs Galdes joins a growing list of cabinet ministers’ nearest and dearest landing well-remunerated government appointments.

These include Maxiline Bonett,  the wife of Parliamentary Secretary for EU Funds Chris Bonett, who, apart from being employed at the Lands Authority, was also appointed as a consultant to Agriculture Minster Anton Refalo.

Deandra Schembri, Economy Minister Silvio Schembri’s wife, is a manager at the Malta Business Registry, which falls under her husband’s remit.

Amanda Muscat, Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo’s partner, has been employed within Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri’s private secretariat.

The Shift has also revealed how Active Ageing Minister Jo Etienne Abela employed his brother’s wife, Mariella Abela, as his private secretary.

Foreign Minister Ian Borg has meanwhile recruited Sarah Agius Saliba,  Labour MEP Alex Agius Saliba’s wife, as his consultant.

So far, Prime Minister Robert Abela has not taken any action to stop the rampant abuse.