The planning authority made payments totalling about €700,000 to a waste management company owned by the Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises (GRTU), which according to a rival firm constituted illegal state aid.

However, testifying in court yesterday, the CEO of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority was not able to explain why the payments were made, saying he did not have the documen-tation available.

The CEO, Johann Buttigieg, was testifying in the case instituted by Green Dot Limited – a rival to the GRTU’s Green MT – against Mepa.

Green Dot Limited alleges that Mepa gave illegal state aid to Green MT and allowed it to operate illegally for the first six months in 2011, when it did not hold a waste management licence.

Mr Buttigieg said that some €700,000 had been paid to Green MT through direct cheques from Mepa between 2011 and 2012.

Asked why the payments were made, Mr Buttigieg said that verifications were still being carried out. He was not in possession of the documentation as he was not in the position at the time.

Asked if any payments were made to Green Dot, Mr Buttigieg said he would be able to answer these questions once he had the necessary documents at hand.

In the court sitting yesterday, Mr Justice Mark Chetcuti asked Mr Buttigieg to testify again in January once he had all the information available.