Minister for Competitiveness and
Communications Censu Galea has written to the Permanent Commission against
Corruption to investigate another speech made by Member of Parliament (MP) Joe
Mizzi in Parliament on Wednesday. The speech concerns the case of two Malta
Maritime Authority (MMA) employees allegedly accepting bribes to issue nautical
licenses, which is currently being investigated by Police.
The two
employees were charged last month with receiving money and gifts to issue
irregular licenses over a number of years leading up to June 2007.
In his sixth letter to the Commission, the
Minister called for the investigation to be conducted in the shortest time
possible.
When he spoke of the case in previous
instances, Member of Parliament (MP) Joe Mizzi was challenged by the MMA to
repeat the allegations outside parliament where he will not benefit of the
privilege of protection. In a statement on Thursday, Dr Galea told the
Commission that the investigation is required because it appears that the MP
has no intentions of repeating his discourse outside of parliament and thus no
legal proceedings can be taken in his regards.
Investigations concerning the alleged bribes began on the 24th May after the
MMA informed the Ministry of Competitiveness and Communications was informed of
suspected irregularities tied to the process of the issuing of nautical
licenses.
The suspicions arose after the
Authority noted discrepancies in some documents.
%20Joe%0AMizzi%20in%20Parliament%20on%20Wednesday.%20The%20speech%20concerns%20the%20case%20of%20two%20Malta%0AMaritime%20Authority%20(MMA)%20employees%20allegedly%20accepting%20bribes%20to%20issue%20nautical%0Alicenses%2C%20which%20is%20currently%20being%20investigated%20by%20Police.%20%3Cbr%20%2F%3E%0A%0A%0A%0A%3Cp%3E%0AIn%20his%20sixth%20letter%20to%20the%20Commission%2C%20the%20Minister%20called%20for%20the%0Ainvestigation%20to%20be%20conducted%20in%20the%20shortest%20time%20possible.%20%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%0A&topic=world_news){kind=link}