Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has failed to divulge the name of a company or companies who received €836,000 worth of direct orders from Identity Malta, citing “sensitivity” issues.
Figures that were provided following a parliamentary question by PN MP Karol Aquilina indicate that six direct orders amounting to €717,000 were issued on 18 April 2016 for ‘Due Diligence service – Companies’
Less than a month later, Identity Malta issued another €119,000 direct orders for ‘Due Diligence service – Companies’.
The names of these seven companies are blanked out, while a footnote says that the names are not provided because of the “sensitivity of the work involved.”
Also appearing on the list is MP and former Minister Edward Zammit Lewis, who received €12,000 for ‘legal consultancy in relation with Identity Malta reforms’, and former MP and Parliamentary Secretary Deborah Schembri, who earned €29,925 for ‘Citizenship Unit legal services’.
Elaine Malia, who used to represent Henley and Partners, was paid €119,600 for ‘contracts for services re IIP Risk and Compliance’.
Direct orders have been at the centre of debate in Parliament ever since a parliamentary question tabled by Jason Azzopardi revealed that SportMalta, which falls under the remit of Parliamentary Secretary for Sport Clifton Grima, issued two direct orders amounting to roughly €5 million related to the shooting range which brought stinging criticism from the Opposition bench.
Other parliamentary questions (also tabled by Azzopardi) revealed that the Ministry for Health spent close to €7 million over five direct orders; that the Environment Ministry awarded over €11 million for three direct orders related to waste management; and that six entities that fall under the responsibility of the Office of the Prime Minister issued direct orders worth over €5 million in the space of just over a year.
The Ministry for Gozo, the Ministry for Transport, and the Ministry for Family, Children’s Rights and Social Solidarity issued direct orders of €4.3 million, €2.8 million, and €1.4 million respectively.
PN Leader Adrian Delia has insisted that these direct orders would be in a breach of regulations given that payments that exceeded €120,000 needed to be awarded according to an established tendering procedure.