Foreign Ministry 'saves' Lm5,000 on travel costs

Foreign Minister John Dalli yesterday called for a comparison to be made of the prices of air tickets bought by his ministry and the rest of the public service.

The minister said in reply to a parliamentary question by Leo Brincat (MLP) that before buying air tickets, the foreign ministry sought quotations from Air Malta and a private agency and bought the tickets from the cheapest source. As a result, the ministry was not only getting a better service but it saved over Lm5,000 in two months.

Another possibility for savings was being identified.

As for hotel accommodation, the current position was that when official delegations went to countries where Malta had an embassy, the embassy personnel made the necessary arrangements with the hotels.

However it was being found that savings could be made if the services of Air Malta or local travel agents were sought. The ministry's department responsible for official travel was therefore being instructed to request quotations in the same way as for air tickets, compare them with the prices quoted to the embassies and make the allocations according to the cheapest offer.

Mr Dalli said he was urging the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee to ask the Auditor-General to compare the prices with which air tickets were bought by the foreign ministry with the rest of the public sector to see whether those not using the same system as the ministry should start doing so.