The Opposition will be asking the Auditor General to investigate a direct order worth €880,000 given by the Home Affairs Ministry for the replacement of IT wiring and infrastructure at Corradino Correctional Facility, the shadow minister for justice, Jason Azzopardi, told parliament this evening.
Dr Azzopardi said that had the company in question been required to tender regularly, it would not even have been eligible to do so, as it had failed to file an audited statement of accounts with the MFSA for years and was therefore likely to be in tax arrears.
Not only was this clear evidence of “sleaze,” but works had started several months before the final approval for the direct order had been given in December 2016.
The awardee company had no website or Facebook profile, and no record of expertise in the field in question.
Furthermore, whereas cabling for sensitive systems within the CCF was normally housed inside the walls, the awardee company had chosen to surface-mount the cables in galvanised steel trunking. This, Dr Azzopardi said, put equipment at a greater risk of tampering.
This, Dr Azzopardi said, put equipment at a greater risk of tampering.
Dr Azzopardi also criticised the fact that, since a law introducing parole in such cases had not yet been implemented, the Maltese Courts were still acting in accordance with laws that these rulings indicated to be illegitimate.