Opposition leader Simon Busuttil this morning challenged the Prime Minister to refer the case of consultancy service contracts awarded to his firm during the last legislature to the Police Commissioner for investigation.

“I did not do anything wrong,” he insisted during a visit to the San Gwann council offices this morning.

A few days ago, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat accused Dr Busuttil of 'lying' on TVM’s programme Xarabank over the contracts. The Prime Minister said that “the vast majority of these consultancies were not awarded through a tender but by direct order.

The claim was also made in the PL’s newspaper Kullhadd and Dr Busuttil has since filed a libel suit saying that the newspaper’s claim that direct orders were given to a company in which he was partner because of his role in the company and not because of its competence was slanderous and aimed at ridiculing him.

Dr Busuttil was also asked what the Nationalist Party would be doing next about the LNG storage tank in Marsaxlokk. The party, he said, would be discussing this during a Parliamentary group meeting later today.

He urged residents of Birzebbuga and Marsaxlokk to protest about the matter with their vote during the European Parliament elections.

The PN leader promised the San Gwann council the party would insist with the government for the publication of an inquiry into the safety of its offices.

Part of the San Gwann council office ceiling fell in mid-August last year and the Local Councils Department had appointed an inquiry board to see if the building was safe.

Parliamentary Secretary Jose Herrera had promised that the inquiry would be concluded by the end of September but its conclusions have not yet been published in spite of repeated requests by the council.