Works on two residential roads in Mosta were ordered directly by the previous mayor without the council’s approval and with no funds earmarked for the projects, his successor, Shirley Farrugia, said.

Somebody giving a works order and somebody executing it

Dr Farrugia promised the roads would be completed once the inquiry into how the works were ordered by Paul Chetcuti Caruana was concluded.

When contacted, Dr Chetcuti Caruana tersely said he was no longer the Mosta mayor and had no comments to make before abruptly hanging up.

Last week, the government set up a board of inquiry to investigate the contract for the resurfacing of Id-Dawr and l-Istrinġell streets, awarded to V&C Contractors in December.

Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici asked the inquiry board to look into the way the contract had been awarded and identify “any evidence of non-observance of regulations, wrongdoing or abuse of authority”.

Dr Farrugia said that a preliminary investigation carried out by her council’s lawyer after taking office in April showed that the two work orders allocated to the contractor and the council’s architect were signed by Dr Chetcuti Caruana alone. According to council regulations, they should have had two signatures.

She said the projects were never discussed by the previous council and no vote on the works were ever taken.

The new mayor, who also sat on the previous council, said the councillors had never been told that the work was planned, not even when it started. Also, no funds were allocated for the reconstruction and resurfacing of the two roads.

Vince Borg, co-owner of V&C Contractors, said last week that he had started work after he received a works order on an official Mosta council letterhead on December 21 signed by Dr Chetcuti Caruana and delivered to him by hand.

Dr Chetcuti Caruana had also issued another works order on the same date, this time for work on another road, Triq l-Imsiebaħ. However, work has not yet started.

Mr Borg said the estimated cost of the work on Triq Id-Dawr was €333,000, including a 10 per cent contingency, five per cent architects’ management fee and 18 per cent VAT. Of this, about €65,000 worth of work had been completed, including pavements and the laying of new water, electricity and sewage services.

The estimated cost of Triq l-Istrinġell is €37,000 and about €8,000 worth of work had already been done.

Dr Farrugia said that the council architect, Labour MP Charles Buhagiar, had told the mayor that the works could be paid out of the planning authority’s community parking payment scheme. However, Dr Farrugia said this “is totally unfounded”.

When contacted, Mr Buhagiar said since one of the roads provided substantial parking space, the council could have applied under the scheme indicated.

He said he had not seen the proper works order containing just the former mayor’s signature, adding: “I do what the council tells me to do.”

Mr Buhagiar said he had first worked out an estimate of the work in 2007 on the council’s request.

Dr Farrugia did not blame the contractor, who, she said, “was just executing a works order”.

“The inquiry is covering the whole issue: somebody giving a works order and somebody executing it. The contractor was working with the required Transport Malta permits. He stopped the works on his own accord. I did not give him any direction since this project was not ordered by the council, previous or present,” Dr Farrugia said.

Asked whether residents will have to continue living in a dusty road until the inquiry was wrapped up, she said that nothing could be done until then.

The inquiry board is headed by Louis Cilia and includes Martin Scicluna and Natalino Attard as its members.