The Finance Ministry has ordered Enemalta to supply information requested by The Times which it has refused to reveal, despite a Freedom of Information request.
In a statement this afternoon, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said he had not been aware of the corporation's decision not to supply this information.
He disassociated himself from the decision and instructed the corporation to supply the information, as long as it was not kept from doing so by the police because of investigations.
The Times asked for the names of companies awarded oil procurement tenders over the past 20 years.
The energy corporation had already refused to disclose this information last week due to “commercial sensitivity”.
But after The Times filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act, the reason for withholding the information changed, with Enemalta saying the information could be prejudicial.
The Times asked for “a detailed breakdown of the names of companies that were awarded tenders for oil procurement by Enemalta between 1993 and 2013, including dates of when the tenders were awarded, names of other companies that tendered and any other details that can be included such as tonnage, value and duration of contracts”.
In response, Enemalta cited Article 30(2) of the Freedom of Information Act, which states that a document can be withheld if it could “reasonably be expected to prejudice the fair trial of a person”.
The same article applies if the document could reasonably be expected to prejudice the impartial adjudication of a case by any court, tribunal, disciplinary board, arbitration panel or inquiries.
The article also specifies that the document could be withheld if it could prejudice the effectiveness of lawful methods or procedures for preventing, detecting, investigating or dealing with matters arising out of breaches or evasions of the law, or prejudice the maintenance or enforcement of lawful methods for the protection of public safety.
The Times challenged Enemalta’s refusal to disclose the information through a review procedure.
Enemalta’s oil procurement history was requested in light of the oil procurement corruption case that rocked the corporation last month, following allegations that oil company Trafigura paid commissions to petrochemist Frank Sammut, a former adviser to Enemalta chairman Tancred Tabone.
The information would shed light on how often Trafigura won contracts and if it maintained a privileged position before, during or after Mr Sammut’s involvement in oil purchasing.
This week, The Times reported the police had enough evidence to issue charges on the case but more people had to be questioned.