The Marigold Foundation today insisted it never said that the Love, Faith, Forgiveness project was an NGO, despite the Prime Minister’s wife Michelle Muscat indicating it was one during a press conference last Wednesday.
Times of Malta reported today that the project which engages inmates to carry out sewing and design work is not a registered NGO, as required by law.
The project run by Mary Grace Pisani and endorsed by the Prime Minister’s wife has been operating since 2014.
This paper reported last Wednesday that 14 female inmates at the Corradino prison were owed over €16,000 for sewing they had done since June.
In a statement today, the foundation hit out at the “erroneous report”.
The foundation said in a statement that the curtains made by inmates for a June 2015 Parliament exhibition were not for sale.
This goes against declarations made by Ms Muscat herself during the same press conference, who admitted that the curtains were in fact on sale, but none were sold during the event.
The foundation said prisoners have been paid €14,700 since the project began, but did not deny that inmates are owed €16,000 for work they have carried out since June.
The foundation said it has given “full disclosure” about the project, yet a request for the scheme’s accounts by Times of Malta has thus far been ignored.
The foundation denied owing money to two inmates who have since been released. It also denied the “allegation” that 10 per cent of the proceeds from the project go to the foundation.
“To date, the only money received by the Marigold Foundation is a sum of €500 which the inmates themselves collected and donated to the foundation. The 10 per cent mentioned in the article is earmarked to go towards Victims Support and will be passed on to Marigold when all payments have been settled. All this was stated at the press briefing,” the foundation said.
It denied that inmates have been barred from the workshop. Work has halted as Ms Pisani was sick and unable to attend the workshops.
It also denied that Ms Muscat told journalists to “ask the government” about pending CHOGM payments.
Ms Muscat told journalists in the press conference to ask the Finance Minister why the prisoners had not been paid for the 400 dresses sewn for the November 2015 CHOGM summit.