The owner of the outdoor events firm who was awarded four contracts worth quarter of a million euro by the Ministry for Justice and Culture is the same person who had launched accusations against former Minister Tonio Fenech on Xarabank five years ago.

Last Monday Justice and Culture Minister Owen Bonnici said that three contracts out of four worth more than €179,000 has been awarded by direct order to Tec Ltd, while the fourth had been won via tender. Dr Bonnici was replying to a parliamentary question by PN Shadow Minister Jason Azzopardi.

Tec Ltd is owned by Charles Magro who is an Enemalta employee and who is seconded to the General Workers Union. Mr Magro is the same person who was part of the Xarabank audience five years ago and unexpectedly stood up to tell then Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi that his company had never been paid by Mr Fenech for works carried out at the then finance minister’s house. The decoration works at Mr Fenech’s home had been carried out by Rainbow Turnkey Projects of which Mr Magro is also one of the directors.  

Tec Ltd is an events company that provides services to, among others, the government. It was awarded a €58,000 contract by direct order for erecting the stage, platea and sound at the 2014 Carnival. The company obtained another contract, worth €29,500, by direct order for cleaning the Marsa Shipbuilding site before the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Then it was given a €92,132 contract, also by direct order, for the ‘provisional construction’ of a backstage area and press centre for the same event. The company won a €75,679 tender which was published in the government gazette for the 2015 Carnival.

The same PQ was asked twice to both the Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Minister Konrad Mizzi but both always replied that the information was still being collected.

Tonio Fenech filed two libel suits against Labour Party and One news on the issue, both of which are still in court.