Dr Frank Fabri has been appointed Institute of Tourism Studies General Manager. He was until recently employed at the Education Ministry, forced to leave after the UPE filed a criminal complaint following the Bogdanovic report.
The UPE has several members working at ITS. Members are concerned that Dr Fabri might replicate at ITS the negative legacy he left behind at the Education Ministry
The Tourism Minister Hon Clayton Bartolo appears to have been blissfully unaware of or has totally disregarded the allegations surrounding Frank Fabri. While educators have praised the current administration at the Ministry of Education for listening to the pleas of its employees, things have now taken a somewhat bizarre twist.
The UPE has several questions that need to be answered. It is the interest of the public and Union members to be informed about this appointment.
1) Was there a formal call of application for the position of ITS General Manager? Or was Frank Fabri the anointed and handpicked candidate for the position?
2) Has the Public Service Commission (PSC) investigated the allegations that had been made? If so, has it published its findings? If not, why not?
In politics, transparency is a rare commodity.
Frank Fabri’s appointment raises suspicions on many levels.
ITS employees are not in the public service but are in the public sector.
The PSC would not be able to intervene in any future investigations.
It is now the Tourism Minister’s responsibility to explain the cloud of suspicion that has descended on ITS.
The Union and its members at ITS await a response from CEO Mr Pierre Fenech or the Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo. But we will not be holding our breath…