Labour media chairman and Valletta Culture Agency boss Jason Camilleri was paid over €18,000 by the infrastructure ministry in 2018 for work related to the Ta' Qali National Park upgrading project.

The information was included in a list of direct orders tabled in Parliament on Monday by Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg.

Sections of the media had reported in 2019 that Micallef, the former head of the Valletta 2018 Foundation, had been given another public role but this is the first time that the amount he was paid has been published.

The information was requested by PN MP Tony Bezzina.

The document tabled by Borg reveals that Micallef was paid €18,080 for the “liaisoning between the stakeholders involved in the upgrading of Ta' Qali National Park for a duration of 12 months (29th April 2019 to 28th April 2020).”

Micallef has been criticised for being appointed to head national agencies while retaining his role as head of the Labour Party’s media machine.

He has often courted controversy, including his inflammatory remarks about the makeshift monument in Valletta dedicated to slain journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. His comments had prompted over a hundred artists to call for his resignation, while foreign officials boycotted the V18 events.

Micallef is also a former Labour Party secretary general.