Tourism Minister Julia Farrugia Portelli told the press on Tuesday that she will be taking a decision on Konrad Mizzi’s Malta Tourism Authority consultancy contract in the “coming hours” after she receives legal advice.

Asked by journalists about Mizzi’s lucrative consultancy contract, the details of which emerged last night, Farrugia Portelli continually repeated that she has launched a mechanism for a legal team to vet the validity of the contract.

She said that she will take a decision on the contract once she receives written legal advice on how to proceed.

The consultancy contract, worth €80,000 a year, was awarded to Mizzi in December last year just two weeks after the same Mizzi resigned from his role of Tourism Minister amidst the political scandal brought about by the arrest of Yorgen Fenech in connection with the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Farrugia Portelli told journalists that she did not know about the contract as it had been signed before she took on the portfolio, and that she too had only found out about its existence yesterday and had immediately sought legal advice.

Asked by this newsroom how it was possible that neither the MTA’s Chairman Gavin Gulia nor their CEO Johann Buttigieg – who only recently took the role – had told her of the consultancy contract, even after Farrugia Portelli had visited the MTA’s offices on 17 January, the Minister replied that “when I make an official visit with employees the meeting was not to scrutinise contracts which were drawn up.”

“I started a mechanism wherein I asked the MTA through my Permanent Secretary to give me full visibility of every contract which was given in recent weeks so that I can make the necessary decisions – and I took that first decision straight away last night”, she said.