Updated 4pm with PN statement
Jonathan Borg has reportedly been "removed" from his role as Transport Malta CEO, less than a year after he was appointed to the role, Times of Malta is informed.
Borg did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday.
When contacted, Transport Minister Chris Bonett declined to comment and said only that things are “moving forward as they were yesterday”. He did not elaborate when asked to clarify.
Borg was appointed to replace Brigadier Jeffrey Curmi in the role at the end of April 2023, following weeks of speculation that the former commander of the Armed Forces had stepped down from the role.
Curmi has also lasted less than a year in the role after reportedly being charged by Prime Minister Robert Abela himself to clean up the regulator that had become bogged down by allegations of corruption and mismanagement.
The transport regulator has also been embroiled in a wide-reaching driving licence racket, with evidence showing that former transport minister Ian Borg and his ministry staff fed names to Transport Malta’s licensing director and piled on the pressure for candidates to pass their practical driving test.
Clint Mansueto and two low-level Transport Malta clerks, Philip Edrick Zammit and Raul Antonio Pace, have been accused of corruption and trading in influence in connection with the racket. They deny the charges.
Borg had been appointed by former transport minister Aaron Farrugia, who was ousted from cabinet in a surprise reshuffle in the first week of January.
Prior to making him Transport Malta CEO, Farrugia had previously appointed Borg, a veteran of more than 30 years in the maritime industry, CEO of Yachting Malta.
News of Borg’s departure from the helm of the transport regulator comes a day after the Nationalist Party said that it has evidence that Transport Malta employees were being asked to meddle with fines and contraventions and lie about it under oath.
This, the PN claimed, is yet another scandal involving a unit of Transport Malta which was responsible for the purchasing of five rigid hull inflatable boats which became unusable after a short time.
Last year, a National Audit Office review flagged a series of failures in the procurement of the boats for €721,000.
PN: 'This does not solve anything'
The Nationalist Party quickly reacted to reports of Borg being replaced.
"This does not solve anything, because the full truth has yet to be revealed," the PN said in a statement signed by three of its MPs.
It said it has information that people being probed at Transport Malta still have access to internal information, while others placed on internal boards of investigation are in contact with people they are meant to be investigating.
"The PN expects the police to do their job and investigate immediately. The public has a right to know whether public funds are being used correctly," MPs Ivan Castillo, Darren Carabott and Mark Anthony Sammut said.