New Mepa chief to get €60k and perks

Johann Buttigieg is the new chief executive officer of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, a post that comes with a €60,000 pay packet, Times of Malta has learnt. Mr Buttigieg had been earmarked for the post before an internal call for applications was issued after former CEO Ian Stafrace resigned. He was one of two applicants and was chosen by a selection committee which, sources said, included Mepa chairman Vince Cassar. The €60,000 salary is actually €5,000 less than what Dr Stafrace used to get. His perks include the fully paid use of a mobile phone, a car maintained by the authority and a broadband internet connection at his residence. Sources at Mepa said Mr Buttigieg, who has worked at the planning watchdog for a number of years, had been “ordering people around” just a few weeks after the March election. He is said to have been one of the reasons why Dr Stafrace quit in April. When asked about this in May, the parliamentary secretary responsible for Mepa, Michael Farrugia, had admitted that Mr Buttigieg was his “point of reference” at the authority and was helping to give Mepa “a certain direction”. He had said he had been instructing Mr Buttigieg on what needed...