The prohibition of a company from bidding for government contracts in line with regulations to combat precarious employment was revoked hours after it was issued.

On Monday the government announced that two cleansing companies, Gafasaveways Ltd and Clentec Ltd, had been handed a two-year ban after breaching laws against precarious employment.

In a statement the government said this ban was the result of regulations which came into force this time last year.

However Times of Malta can reveal that the ban on Gafasaveways Ltd was ‘temporarily suspended’ on the same day.

This newspaper has seen correspondence addressed to all permanent secretaries, directors general and heads of public sector organisations in which they were notified that this ban was being temporarily lifted.

No explanation was given for this decision and it was not communicated to the media.

Last year Gafasaveways Ltd was at the centre of a controversy following accusations by the General Workers’ Union that it had been offering substandard conditions to its employees. The company had strenuously denied the claim.

The controversy had been triggered during the election campaign when the PN media broadcast an audio recording of GWU secretary general Tony Zarb.

At the time the PN had insisted that the recording proved Mr Zarb would influence government decisions if Labour were to win the general election.

It had subsequently emerged that the other party in this audio conversation was the owner of this company.