Miriam Dalli gives second job to President’s 23-year-old granddaughter

Energy Minister Miriam Dalli, currently in the eye of a political storm due to the systematic failure of Malta’s power grid, has still found the time to award another job to 23-year-old Kristina Cuschieri, the granddaughter of President George Vella and daughter of disgraced former MFSA Chief Joseph Cuschieri.

After giving Katrina Cuschieri a political appointment last year, before she had even graduated, Dalli has now appointed her own consultant as a member of the board of directors of Clearflow Plus Plc – a wholly owned subsidiary of the Water Services Corporation to be used as a financial vehicle to borrow some €25 million from the market for so-called ‘investments’ to be made by the state’s potable water provider.

Last year, The Shift revealed how the young Cuschieri, who had just returned from her studies in London in the summer and was still awaiting the official graduation ceremony, was put on the government payroll by Dalli to give her advice on energy and water issues.

The move, accompanied by a lucrative taxpayer-funded package, had immediately raised eyebrows within government circles and was considered “an act of pure nepotism” by the minister.

Government officials had dubbed the appointment “a personal payback” by the minister to her friend, the former disgraced MFSA boss.

When Joseph Cuschieri was employed as a senior official at Vodafone (now Epic) he hired Miriam Dalli to work with him while keeping her job as a Labour reporter at One TV.

While last year’s appointment had already led to criticism against the minister, Dalli ignored everyone and has now given Katrina Cuschieri a directorship to top her government income.

Until 2013, political appointees in ministries were not eligible to sit on government boards and get paid for the role. This changed as soon as Labour took office.

Clearflow Plus PLC, which has now issued a €25 million bond offer to finance various WSC upgrades, is chaired by former policeman turned lawyer Vince Micallef. He already holds several government appointments.

The ‘green bonds’ will be used for WSC to install PV panels over various properties it holds, including reservoirs, to upgrade the distribution system and to invest in preventing water wastage.

Usually, these capital investments would be financed through the government’s annual budget.

However, due to record debt levels – over €9 billion and growing – the WSC has been asked to borrow money through a secondary company not to increase the government’s official debt statistics.

It is as yet unclear how much Cuschieri will be earning for her second job.