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The Maltese Herald

MCAST: a total failure in basic management

—

by

Mark Camilleri
in

The case of Francine Farrugia is not just the result of a complex fraud that enabled her to siphon off up to €2.3 million from MCAST into her own pockets: it is also a systematic failure caused by a management crisis stemming from the very top of the Ministry of Education and extending to the entities under its responsibility. You may remember the case of the Permanent Secretary Matthew Vella in which he himself paid scammers up to €300,000 from public funds. He wasn’t reprimanded for his gross error and remains Permanent Secretary until this day.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education is well-known for his incompetence but political convenience and nepotism are what enable officials like him to remain in power and cause wreckage in the system. The incompetence eventually trickles down from the top to lower level officials and the rest of the Ministry’s entities leading to rampant stagnation and confusion in the bureaucracy. Political appointments keep exacerbating the problems. Ultimately, it is the Minister in question who is responsible for this wreckage: Minister Clifton Grima has kept kept denying these problems despite being constantly warned about the rampant incompetence while the damage grew in the background.

MCAST’s Principal and CEO Stephen Vella is also to blame for this mess. Stephen Vella and his deputy-directors have taken pride in changes they made in MCAST with their micro-management and bullish attitude only to achieve a bureaucratic mess of massive proportions. MCAST even has an internal auditor of its own called Mario Pace, and apparently this person is nowhere to be seen right now. No one is taking responsibility.

Interestingly enough, MCAST’s Deputy-Principal Philip Vella resigned shortly before Francine Farrugia’s case unfolded in public. Philip Vella, who was responsible for finances, was replaced by Ronald Curmi. Now, Philip Vella has a senior position at St. Patrick’s Salesian School as its Head of Care.

These individuals have all quickly climbed the ranks of the bureaucracy without much to show for their management skills, and allowed and enabled multiple management disasters that led to a financial manager syphoning up to €2.3 million of public funds in two years. Yet, this incompetence and these disasters will continue because the root cause of the problems stem from the very top of the Ministry of Education.

 

 

 

 

Comments

5 responses to “MCAST: a total failure in basic management”

  1. Sparky avatar
    Sparky

    Labour remind me of the movie dumb and dumber. In such cases the minister should hand his resignation at once. Systematic breakdown of a system culminating in this recent fraud case has happened under his watch. Inept. So here we have Labour blaming everyone connected to the PN when in fact it is a failure orchestrated by themselves or their failure at administration. Jeez. Lloyd was the name? He’d probably do a better job than the entire cabinet.

    Reply
  2. Theresa Demanuele avatar
    Theresa Demanuele

    I am not in a position to accuse or judge, and we should all do the same. We should let the investigations be carried out properly. Pointing fingers and putting people in a bad light seems to be the trend here. Trying to shift blame without knowing the facts, is so unethical and unprofessional.

    It is indeed a pity that you have referred to a number of professional people within MCAST who do their job well and are professional people and people of integrity. Throwing accusations, hurting people and trying to destroy people? I ask myself, what kind of journalism is this? What is the scope here? Have you ever stopped and reflected on what is your real agenda behind all this? Before you post such articles, think about the possible effect on individuals who have been working hard and honestly, and think about the effect on their well-being and mental health. At MCAST there are genuine people, staff in different roles, educators and management who are dedicated and honest. Stop putting MCAST and us workers in a bad light!

    Reply
    1. Mark Camilleri avatar
      Mark Camilleri

      Rhetorical garbage that doesn’t eve address one of the points made in the article. This is why why we have mediocrity and fraudsters stealing €2.3 million in funds from a public institution.

      Reply
  3. Ex-Judge Antonion Mizzi appointed by the Minister Clifton Grima to "investigate" €2.3 million in stolen funds from MCAST - The Maltese Herald avatar
    Ex-Judge Antonion Mizzi appointed by the Minister Clifton Grima to "investigate" €2.3 million in stolen funds from MCAST - The Maltese Herald

    […] Minister Clifton Grima appointed the ex-Labour Judge Antonio Mizzi to supposedly investigate MCAST’s and the bureuacratic failings that led to a financial manager steal up to €2.3 million […]

    Reply
  4. Francine Farrugia's fraud could have been avoided if standard public accounting procedures were applied - The Maltese Herald avatar
    Francine Farrugia's fraud could have been avoided if standard public accounting procedures were applied - The Maltese Herald

    […] Details are coming out from the Court case regarding Francine Farrugia’s €2.3 million fraud from MCAST. Previously, we pointed out that Francine Farrugia couldn’t not have executed her fraud if proper auditing and accounting procedures were in place: this means that Francine Farrugia’s fraud was also caused by management disasters. […]

    Reply

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