Joseph Caruana, permanent secretary to the Education Minister. Photo: DOI

Updated 17:12: Ministry insists it immediately acted on allegations

The Education Minister’s permanent secretary Joseph Caruana denied he had a duty to ask the police to investigate an allegation that his brother was asking for a bribe of €30,000 to process government payments.

Mr Caruana was grilled on the witness stand by defence lawyer Joe Giglio in court proceedings against Xewkija contractor Giovann Vella of GV Gozo Developments.

Mr Vella stands accused of defaming Mr Caruana’s brother Edward. Mr Vella ended up facing slander charges after informing the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools (FTS) chief operating officer, Anthony Muscat, that Edward Caruana – an aide to Education Minister Evarist Bartolo – was asking him for €30,000 to facilitate government payments he was owed for works at the Victoria sixth form extension.

“When you were informed of the corruption allegation during the meeting [held last August to survey the works’ progress], you failed to ask the police to investigate. Instead, slander proceedings were filed against my client,” Dr Giglio said.

“Didn’t you feel the duty to ask the police to investigate the allegation? Are you comfortable with the fact that, as permanent secretary, there is an allegation against your brother that was not investigated?”

Mr Caruana insisted that he was only involved in the execution and outcome of projects and insisted that his brother had nothing to do with the payments, despite being presented with e-mails on the subject where Edward Caruana was copied in.

Mr Caruana told the court that concrete works carried out by Mr Vella were not done according to the specifications listed in the contract terms and confirmed that he had asked the FTS to freeze all the contractor’s payments until the necessary tests and certifications were carried out.

“I suspect this must be rather difficult now, seeing that the works have been completed and the school is being used,” Dr Giglio pointed out. “You have totally compromised investigations.”

Are you comfortable with the fact that, as permanent secretary, there is an allegation against your brother that was not investigated?

Architect Clint Camilleri, who was contracted by the FTS as the architect in charge of the Gozo sixth form project, testified that Mr Vella had often complained to him that he was not being paid on time and that the payments did not reflect the calculations made by his architect.

Asked about payment procedures, Mr Camilleri said that bills were issued periodically according to certifications. “He first complained to me about the matter in December 2014, saying: ‘How can I buy the material to continue the works with no money?’”

Mr Camilleri said that he informed the FTS of Mr Vella’s complaints, adding that the foundation’s reply was: “We’ll ask the surveyor to conduct the measurements and then we’ll pay him.” Mr Camilleri assumed that Mr Vella was not being paid because of bureaucracy.

However, tests ordered by Mr Camilleri revealed that the concrete thickness of the new block’s ceilings did not reach the 225 millimetres (barring the roof) which Mr Camilleri had asked for.

Additionally, the concrete grade was marginally less than what had been specified.

“I had ordered a concrete thickness of 225 millimetres and I did not feel comfortable certifying the building,” Mr Camilleri told the court, adding that in the case of some storeys, the concrete thickness was a mere 214 millimetres.

Mr Camilleri told the FTS that he was not ready to assume the responsibility and that they should engage another architect to certify and assume responsibility.

He also informed the foundation that, if they were to pay Mr Vella, the bill should be revised to take into consideration the discrepancies in thickness.

Dr Giglio asked whether the figure to be deducted from Mr Vella’s bill amounted to €230,000, pointing out that his client was due to receive €180,000 and a bank guarantee of €50,000.

Mr Camilleri said that, while he did not have the tools to give the court an estimate, the amount to be deducted “was definitely not as much as €230,000”.

Education Ministry - We acted immediately 

In a right of reply issued this afternoon, the Education Ministry insisted that it had immediately acted upon being made aware of the allegations against Mr Caruana.

"When the allegations surfaced the Ministry directed both sides, FTS officials and Mr Vella, to go to the police," a Ministry spokesman said.

FTS officials had been "very clear" in their police report, and once it had been submitted as evidence that action had been taken, it was forwarded to the Permanent Secretary.

The Education Ministry's Permanent Secretary had subsequently written to the Police Commissioner this past Monday, the spokesman said, after Mr Vella's lawyer Dr Giglio had "claimed that the police had concluded their case."

"The Ministry co-operated fully with the case, including in court proceedings, and takes comfort that steps were immediately taken to notify authorities as soon as the allegations surfaced," the spokesman concluded.