Agency job for CEO son angers workers

Workers at the government Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers (AWAS) are angered by the recent hiring of the CEO’s son as a support worker.
Joseph Baldacchino was appointed as AWAS’s acting CEO in June and formally appointed to the role in October.
Mr Baldacchino’s son was hired soon after and has been working at the main AWAS office in Floriana.
Sources said Mr Baldacchino’s son was set to be transferred from the main office to working in the stores at the Ħal Far tent village, following complaints by certain AWAS workers following his employment.
The sources said that while some workers supported the son’s employment, others felt that it was a blatant conflict of interest by the CEO.
A spokeswoman for the Home Affairs Ministry, which is responsible for AWAS, said the normal procedures had been followed in the employment of the CEO’s son.

Asked if the AWAS CEO felt that the hiring of his son constituted a conflict of interest, the spokeswoman said that the “individual mentioned”, together with other people recently employed at AWAS, applied to a public call for the filling of vacant positions within the agency as a support worker.
The spokeswoman said the position was...