Suspended Fisheries Director Finds It ‘Strange’ That 2016 Internal Inquiry Was ‘Never At Her Disposal’
Suspended Fisheries Director Andreina Fenech Farrugia has once again vehemently denied the allegations levelled towards her, revealing in a statement that she never received an internal inquiry on fish farming that has since appeared in the media.
“It is strange that inquiry found itself in the media while it was never at my disposal,” she said, adding that it did not even concern her, but rather the wider operation of the Directorate
The statement comes after PN MP Jason Azzopardi accused Prime Minister Joseph Muscat of “lying” over claims that Fenech Farrugia did not have “a single adverse comment in her file” when reinstating her to the role in 2013; tabling an Internal Audit and Revenue Department investigation in parliament as evidence.
The IAID investigation, Fenech Farrugia said, did not form part of her personal files. She also said that any issues found were due to a short shortage of resources, mainly human, adding that it created “obvious limitations.”
“Nowhere in the report did it refer to my personal shortcomings”
She did reveal that as a result of the investigation, an action plan was established to address the lack of resources in the department, namely the loss of 65 department employees. Other audits were also carried out annually by DG Mare.
Fenech Farrugia insisted she had always flagged any shortcomings to the competent authorities. When she was appointed director general after a public call, she had herself asked the IAIA for an update of their audit.
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