Updated 6pm with PN statement
Colonel Mark Mallia was appointed head of Transport Malta on Friday, less than two weeks after it was announced he would take over as chief executive of the Foundation for Medical Services.
Mallia's appointment was confirmed on Friday afternoon by the Transport Ministry, which said he would assume the role "with immediate effect".
The news suggests an abrupt change of direction for the government: on February 2, the health ministry had announced that Mallia would be taking over from Carmen Ciantar as head of the Foundation for Medical Servies. It is not yet clear who will now assume the top FMS role.
According to political sources, several other people had been offered the transport authority top job over the last few days but had turned down the "toxic role".
Last weekend, Times of Malta revealed Transport Malta CEO Jonathan Borg was removed from his post, less than a year after being appointed to the role, taking over from Brigadier Jeffrey Curmi at the end of April 2023.
That appointment had followed weeks of speculation that the former commander of the Armed Forces had stepped down from the role.
Contacted on Friday, Transport Minister Chris Bonett would not confirm or deny Mallia's appointment.
But his ministry later made it official in a statement which stated that the former transport regulator, Borg, had his resignation accepted by the minister.
Bonnett took over the transport ministry last month. It is standard practice for all heads of state entities to offer their resignation whenever there is a change of minister.
In the ministry statement, Bonett said he thanked Borg for his work and wished Mallia all the best in his new job.
Mallia is an army colonel with a degree in law and business management. He was previously aide de camp to former President George Abela, the prime minister's father. He leaves his job at CEO of state entity Identità (previously Identity Malta) to take over Transport Malta.
Identità will now be led by Steve Agius, who previously served as Chief Operating Officer at Mater Dei Hospital.
Mallia will be Transport Malta's third CEO in less two years, given Borg lasted less than a year in a job. Borg's predecessor, Jeffrey Curmi, had also lasted less than a year in the role.
Transport Malta has 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.
The Nationalist Party has also claimed to have evidence that Transport Malta employees were being asked to meddle with fines and contraventions and lie about it under oath.
Reacting to Mallia’s appointment, the Nationalist Party said Mallia’s sudden switch to Transport Malta just one week into his new job was a sign of the government’s state of confusion.
“We hope Colonel Mallia will ensure that the full truth about Transport Malta rackets emerges, but it is also disappointing to see the health sector being left to languish,” PN MPs Mark Anthony Sammut, Adrian Delia and Ivan Castillo said in a statement.