A lawyer who was given a lucrative government direct orders before she received her warrant has terminated her contract, Transport Minister Ian Borg said Wednesday.

Times of Malta reported earlier this week how Adreana Zammit had been awarded a €62,400 contract by the Transport Ministry through a direct order in October 2019, three months before receiving her warrant. She was also given another €46,142 direct order in August 2020 for a six-month legal consultation agreement, earning her €108,542 in total.

Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, Minister Borg said neither he, nor Zammit’s father, a former chief of staff of Borg’s and a ministry advisor, had had anything to do with the contracts.

The minister said Transport Malta was an autonomous entity that took decisions, and also shouldered the responsibility for its actions, independently.

He said he had looked into the matter and was informer that the young “competent” lawyer had always carried out the work she was paid to do. He added, that because she did not like the fact that she was being turned into a political football, and because she is competent enough to find work in the private sector, she had chosen not to continue with her contract.