In defence of Amanda: Gozo ministry boss tells investigation he doesn’t email

Michael Buhagiar, Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri’s right-hand man and his Ministry’s Chief of Staff, told the Standards Commissioner under oath in the investigation on Ministers Clint Camilleri and Clayton Bartolo that he doesn’t really use emails for his work.

When interviewed by the Commissioner during the investigation on the €70,000 job given to Minister Bartolo’s wife, Amanda Muscat, Buhagiar, known as ‘It-Tewmi‘, could not explain how he had not received emails from her when she occupied the role of policy adviser at the Gozo Ministry.

“I rarely use emails in my work,” Buhagiar told the Commissioner.

Buhagiar admitted that Muscat had no office at the Gozo Ministry, and she rarely attended. When questioned about how he maintained contact with her to monitor her performance on the projects she claimed to be working on, Buhagiar did not explain. He said he judged people “on results”.

Buhagiar declared, that he engaged Muscat as a person of trust with Minister Camilleri. He said Minister Bartolo’s Chief of Staff, John Grima, recommended her to him, but he did not question whether she had the qualifications for the job.

“I knew that she had experience in tourism, as she used to work within the Tourism Ministry. I did not give too much importance to her academic qualifications,” Buhagiar said to justify his decision.

According to her CV, Muscat’s education includes 2 ‘A’ levels in Sociology and Maltese, with grades ‘D’ and ‘B’, respectively. She then earned a diploma. These are insufficient qualifications for the role of policy adviser, which requires top academic qualifications and experience.

Before being promoted to policy adviser, she was Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo’s personal secretary, taking care of his diary and daily needs.

Buhagiar also could not explain how, after being given a job for which she was not qualified, he decided to award her an extra €20,000 expertise allowance, which is restricted to exceptional expertise. The Gozo Ministry’s Head of Secretariat said he could not remember.

However, he said that he had obtained all necessary approvals, including from Robert Abela’s office.

A Ministry’s Chief of staff is the second in command and is usually in regular daily contact with all his departments and agencies through email and other means.

In an attempt to shield his Minister from any responsibility, Buhagiar claimed that he had terminated Muscat’s contract some four months before it expired “as she had completed her tasks.”

He was asked to give examples of these tasks but found it difficult to remember, again.

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Buhagiar did not reveal at any time that Muscat’s contract termination was an order by the Prime Minister, as Robert Abela recently declared.

Buhagiar, 60, from Qala, has worked for Minister Clint Camilleri, known as Tal-Bedeq, since the Minister’s early days in politics. He started as a secretariat member of former Gozo Minister Anton Refalo in 2013.

The Qala resident switched allegiance when Camilleri was elected to parliament in 2017 and became Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture.

Buhagiar has no academic qualifications and used to work in a hotel until he opened a restaurant in Victoria known as Maji Wine and Dine.

The restaurant, now closed, had little success. Buhagiar’s company, X & B Co Ltd, which he owns with his wife Mary Rose, has accumulated debts of over €240,000, according to its last published accounts. The Chief of Staff is also known to deal in property in Gozo.

His company’s auditor is Joe Cordina – Gozo Channel’s Chairman.