Former Resources Minister George Pullicino testified before the Public Accounts Committee today, and defended his decisions as minister regarding Wasteserv, and emails where he was mentioned in or wrote.

The committee is also looking into hiring practices regarding the company just prior to the 2017 general elections. The PL had then raised concerns regarding employment for Wasteserv under the PN government and employment practices, following the leak of emails which showed possible political pressure in the procedures.

Pullicino was politically responsible for Wasteserv between 2003 and 2013, he said.

Asked about his relationship with Wasteserv, he said that back then it was a government agency run by a board appointed by him and the Prime Minister. He said the corporation had a CEO appointed after a public call, and that he held meetings with the Chairman and CEO every fortnight.

He said that he never wanted to create a vehicle which would hire many people where there would be no control over their output, and so created a system where workers would work for a contractor who would have a definite public contract.

He said that the workers who were brought in before and after 2013 were effectively not employed with the public service. “It is not government employment. During my time, we were for the first time installing new plants that Malta was not used to, using new technology for treating waste.”

He said the amount of recycled separated waste increased at the time. Today, he said, it reduced by at least 6%, and said that unfortunately, “Malta is the country that picks up the lowest amount of recycled waste in the EU.”

While responsible for Wasteserv, he said, with every new facility opened they had hired more people, but were always cautious in doing so, telling Wasteserv to ensure that their feet are on the ground in order not to see an explosion in employment.

He said that he cannot see how in one year the number of Wasteserv employees exploded by 30%, clearly referring to 2017. He said that the opposition’s criticism of this explosion in employment was justified.

He was asked whether criticism of the model of employment was justified, at which point PN MP Beppe Fenech Adami jumped in and said the PN have nothing against the model, but their problem is with the abuse that occurred. Last year the Prime Minister announced that the Sant Antnin plant had to close, and a few days later it caught fire, Pullicino said.

Parliamentary Secretary for Reforms Julia Farrugia quickly jumped to the defence of the Prime Minister, arguing against the implication, stating that it was a serious allegation. At this point he said that he was only referring to the time period and not implying anything else. He said that the first thing he would have done if he were heading Wasteserv would be to ensure that Wasteserv keep the number of employees they had, sending the Sant Antnin Plant workers to other spots, and not hire more people.

He said that when he was minister, he never interfered in the number of people Wasteserv hired. He said that his interference would have to do with ensuring that plants being constructed would conclude on time due to EU funds timeframes, for example.

PL MP Alex Muscat highlighted an email Pullicino had sent regarding a person who was fired for stealing, and a request to reconsider hiring him given he was a fire. He asked whether this was a good request. Pullicino responded and said that the person stole some wood from a dump. He said he asked whether Wasteserv would consider rehiring him, adding that he was not placing pressure on Wasteserv. Muscat highlighted that he had done so as a Minister. Pullicino said that this was the only email he had sent and that he sent it from his own email address, and didn’t use any private email to do so. He said it was a humanitarian situation.

Turning to requests for people to be hired by Wasteserv, and lists which were sent to him, and people asking for jobs, he said that he would tell them these were not government jobs, that these were not easy jobs and required hard work, and that such people would need to apply with the contractor and go through an interview.

George Pullicino questioned why the new employees were not hired by the Parks unit for picking up waste, rather than Wasteserv, to which the PL MPs highlighted during his time a request was made for one Wasteserv employee to become his driver. He defended the situation and said that his regular driver was sick, and the employee was employed as his driver temporarily.

PL MP Robert Abela also highlighted that the Memorandum of Articles state that Wasteserv is also responsible for collection.

He was challenged by PL MPs that the Head of his then Secretariat had insulted the then Wasteserv  CEO Vince Magri over the hiring of certain employees. Pullicino said that it had occurred over a situation where people were hired as weighbridge operators and that even though Wasteserv had established criteria, the people hired did not have the necessary qualifications. He said that his Head of secretariat told Wasteserv to issue another call for potential employees, and said that his Head of Secretariat had done well in doing so.

He said that politicians from all sides had come to him suggesting people to be hired, and they would just be forwarded regardless of colour.