A total of 164 consultancy contracts costing more than €3.2 million were awarded by the government last year, according to information given in Parliament.
It resulted that most of the contracts were given through direct orders and without a public call.
The consultancies bill is likely to be even heavier because three Cabinet ministers – Deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech, Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi and Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis – have yet to give details, declaring in Parliament that “the information is still being gathered”.
An exercise conducted by the Times of Malta, based on the information furnished in Parliament following a series of parliamentary questions tabled by Nationalist MP Kristy Debono, shows that, on average, every ministry gave out €268,000 worth of contracts last year. These do not include consultancy contracts by government entities and authorities.
Environment Minister Leo Brincat topped the list, spending more than €730,000 in consultancies between July 2014 and this July.
Three ministers have not yet revealed the amounts they spent on consultancies
Most of the contracts awarded by Mr Brincat’s ministry following a tendering process, however most of those given by Parliamentary Secretary Roderick Galdes, who forms part of the same ministry, were through direct order.
In the second case, those who offered consultancy services included former One TV floor manager Pierre Cachia, FKNK’s general secretary Lino Farrugia, former journalists Charles Flores and Charles Sacco and the GWU’s lawyer, Aaron Mifsud Bonnici.
Transport Minister Joe Mizzi came second in the contracts ranking, giving out 25, at a total value of more than €500,000. In most cases, the consultancies were awarded by direct order, and the consultants included Labour deputy leader Toni Abela, for legal advice on oil exploration.
The Transport Ministry also hired the services of a foreign lawyer, Vaughan Lowe, to advise on contestations on Malta’s continental shelf regarding oil exploration.
Civil Liberties Minister Helena Dalli spent the least on consultancies last year – just €19,000 for three consultancy jobs.
Apart from Dr Abela, among the Labour officials or election candidates contracted to advise the government were Cyrus Engerer at the Office of the Prime Minister, former parliamentary secretary Joe Cilia, Charles Azzopardi, Claudette Abela Baldacchino and Yana Mintoff Bland at the Ministry for the Family and former One TV journalist Julia Farrugia and Labour’s secretary Lydia Zerafa at the Ministry for Gozo.
Audit firm Nexia BT was also given a number of consultancy contracts by various ministries.