President denies claims over his Kitchen Garden

President George Abela has denied claims of maladministration at the Kitchen Garden of San Anton Palace, saying that employees’ complaints of food wastage and mismanagement were “unfounded”. Employees have complained about a number of issues, mainly their working conditions and about the level of service offered at the cafeteria. They told The Times there was mismanagement in food preparation and a lot of food was being wasted. They also complained about the level of freshness of the food served. But replying to questions from The Times, the President’s office said the allegations were being “strongly rebutted since they are gratuitous, unfounded, speculative and far from the truth”. The office referred to the questions sent as “insinuations... directed at the management of the cafeteria in the President’s Kitchen Garden, which raises funds for the Malta Community Chest Fund”. The Kitchen Garden opened to the public last year and includes a cafeteria, a playing area and animal pens. It is open daily, and profits from sales at the cafeteria go to the Malta Community Chest Fund. Among others, the employees complained they were being underpaid and their social security payments were...