The Lija local council breached public procurement rules when it engaged a consultant and a private contractor over the last two years, according to the Department for Local Government.
The Local Governance Board adopted the recommendations of the department’s monitoring unit and recommended the immediate termination of the services contracted.
The department’s monitoring unit was investigating complaints by Labour council member Marc Sant about the use of consultant Chris Pullicino, who received €4,130 for services rendered on four occasions.
Dr Sant also complained that Waste Collection Limited was paid over €7,000 for water services over more than a year.
Dr Sant said Waste Collection Limited was being paid to provide water bowser services when the local council had its own source of water that could not be used for a while because of damage caused during road resurfacing works.
Rather than address the problem, the council paid the company over €300 for monthly services, excluding extra fees. Additional fees invoiced by the company include €2,287 last June for “extra services, weed cutting, etc”. The same service provided in November 2013 cost a further €1,133. The council’s executive secretary at the time said the water bowser gave a temporary service and the extra payments were justified by the street sweeping tender awarded to the company.
Yet, when the monitoring unit reviewed the tender, it found no clause allowing the council to allocate extra services to the same company for an additional payment.
The unit said the local council breached procurement regulations on two counts in this case: by purchasing services through direct order when a call for quotations should have been made and by breaching the rule prohibiting purchases through direct order for the same service within four consecutive months.
Unfounded, defamatory and intended to tarnish the reputation
The unit also said the amount paid to Mr Pullicino was above the threshold for direct orders. On July 19, 2013, the council had approved the use of his services but it later emerged that his fees were too high, Dr Sant claimed. No tender or call for quotations was issued for his service, which was to assist the council to evaluate tenders.
While concluding that the allegations made by Dr Sant on the two service providers were founded, the unit remarked that accusations made against it by the councillor relating to nepotism and its lack of action on his complaint were “unfounded, defamatory and intended to tarnish the reputation of innocent people”.
This was not the first complaint made on the Lija council’s workings by Dr Sant or the first time the department warned the councillor about his correspondence
Last August, the Local Governance Board had told Dr Sant to refrain from using disrespectful language in correspondence to its members. He had complained the council’s minutes were not reflecting what was debated during meetings and that these were postponed for no reason, alleging other members’ involvement.
In May last year, the board had cancelled the selection process of a new executive secretary for the council after Dr Sant and another Labour councillor, Lorraine Farrugia, complained about what was happening.
Ian Castaldi Paris had resigned from mayor a month earlier citing lack of respect. He was succeeded by Nationalist councillor Magda Magri Naudi, who was deputy mayor.