Government to appoint new chairman at MTA

New names for the post of chairman of the Malta Tourism Authority are being considered and are to be discussed at cabinet level, probably today, Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech said yesterday.

Dr Zammit Dimech confirmed on being asked that the resignation of former chairman John C. Grech had been accepted and went on to deny that the post was to be given to Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association president Winston Zahra.

The minister pointed out that Dr Grech's resignation was being accepted only in the context that chairmen were asked to submit their resignation in the wake of the appointment of a new cabinet.

The acceptance of Dr Grech's resignation was not being pegged to anything else, Dr Zammit Dimech said, implicitly referring to recent reports claiming that Dr Grech was involved in companies that received contracts from the MTA or in connection with the MTA.

Dr Grech yesterday categorically denied involvement. He said that a company in which he had an interest had been acting as a facilitator for the organisers of powerboat events.

"The MTA was approached for sponsorship and not for the entire budget for holding the event," he said.

Dr Grech said he immediately declared his interest to whoever was contacted, including the Tourism Minister, who never objected to his involvement, and the former and current chairmen of the authority's Marketing and Promotion Directorate and Product Planning and Development Directorate.

Several other individuals at the authority and the ministry also knew of this declared interest.

Dr Grech confirmed that at that stage he had not formally informed the MTA board of his interest.

To clear all misunderstanding, he informed the board that with immediate effect the company he had an interest in would stop all relations with the organisation responsible for the powerboat race events.

The former chairman said he offered his resignation last week following the instructions given by the government for all government-appointed persons to offer their resignation following the formation of the new cabinet