The national broadcaster was given clearance by the Ministry of Finance to issue 47 direct orders in the run-up to the Junior Eurovision last November.
The direct orders issued by Public Broadcasting Services – to the tune of €1.8 million – covered almost all the requirements for the hosting of the Europe-wide festival for young singers: from security to catering and accommodation.
The total amount does not tally with information given by Justice Minister Owen Bonnici in Parliament recently, who said the government paid a total of €1.4 million in taxpayers’ money for the event held at the former Marsa shipbuilding site.
However, details of direct orders approved by the Ministry for Finance and published in the Government Gazette indicate that PBS actually paid a total of €1.8 million.
Asked for a clarification on why the numbers did not tally, a spokesman for Dr Bonnici insisted the government had contributed €1.4 million in public funds.
It seems PBS has gone overboard with direct orders
“The difference in the amounts was covered through funds raised commercially by PBS and with the assistance of the EBU,” the spokesman said.
The festival, aired across 16 member states of the European Broadcasting Union, was held on November 15. To contain costs, the same venue was used for the local Eurosong contest a week later.
Sources close to PBS told Times of Malta that, although the festival required a number of direct orders, as most of the required equipment and expertise was not available locally, the broadcaster could have issued a call for tenders for other services rather than pay tens of thousands of euros directly to contractors.
“It seems PBS has gone overboard with direct orders,” the sources said.
Asked by Nationalist MP Francis Zammit Dimech why PBS chose to issue a raft of direct orders instead of introducing an element of competition among local suppliers, Dr Bonnici said in Parliament everything was done according to government regulations.
Some of the services acquired through direct orders raised eyebrows among competing firms.
A direct order of €30,000 was issued for security services to Kerber Security Ltd. Until the last elections, the company used to render security services to the Labour Party, which, according to a spokesman, were “free of charge”.
Nexos Lighting and Vision – which until a few months ago was co-owned by Silvio Scerri, the former chief of staff at the ministry that was responsible for PBS – was awarded direct contracts for the provision of stage lighting to the tune of €52,000.
WE Media, producers of various PBS programmes, were given a direct tender for the provision of broadcast design elements worth €34,000.
According to the list of direct orders published in the Government Gazette, Tec Ltd was given a direct order worth €121,000 for the provision of a backstage compound. It is owned by Carmel Magro who, in 2010, made serious allegations against former minister Tonio Fenech on building works carried out at his house in Balzan.
Raymond Vella and Co. Ltd was given a €30,000 direct order for the provision of LED display screens. Mr Vella’s brother, Paul, sits on the PBS board of directors although he is not involved in his brother’s business.
This newspaper was referred to the government when it contacted PBS for comments.