James Piscopo’s tenure as the new CEO at the Lands Authority got off to a bumpy start this week after the board chairman instructed staff to disregard his instructions.
In an e-mail sent to all staff this week, Mr Piscopo announced a list of new procedures aimed at speeding up processes and increasing efficiency. He listed transactions that would no longer need the board’s approval, saying he would now clear them himself together with a senior staff member. Such transactions included lease extensions, lease renewals and hypothec cancellations, among others.
Employees were left scratching their heads when, just under half an hour later, they were in-structed to ignore Mr Piscopo’s e-mail by Lands Authority chairman Lino Farrugia Sacco.
Judge Farrugia Sacco said Mr Piscopo had not obtained the board’s authorisation prior to sending the e-mail setting out the new procedures.
The procedures are now effectively in place
The changes mentioned in Mr Piscopo’s e-mail should be considered as never having come into effect, he added.
When asked for a comment about the matter, a Lands Authority spokesman denied that the board had vetoed the introduction of the new procedures. He said the regulator was working hard to increase efficiency and reduce bureaucracy.
“The initiatives introduced by the CEO, who has the executive authority within the new Lands Authority, are aimed at reaching these objectives. The said procedures are now effectively in place,” the spokesman said.
The Lands Authority’s former CEO, Carlo Mifsud, a former Labour candidate, stepped down after just over a year in office.
The Lands Authority was set up last year in the wake of the Gaffarena scandal in connection with property in Valletta, which saw the forced resignation of then planning parliamentary secretary Michael Falzon in 2016.