The item titled ‘Justice Ministry splashes out on 223 direct orders in six months’ (February 27) presents an unfair and distorted picture of reality.

It is not true that direct orders are the order of the day at the Ministry for Justice, Culture and Local Government. Rather, public calls for tenders are prevalent while direct orders represent only a small fraction of our procurement.

In the field of culture or other related matters, in some cases direct orders tend to be the only solution for procuring such services rather than issuing public calls. This point had even been cleared and accepted in Public Account Committee meetings during the last legislature.

Imagine, for instance, that a government entity decides to organise a concert. If it is decided to bring a particular performer, the artist must be contracted on a direct order basis. It would be ungainly and in breach of public procurement regulations to issue a call for tenders to procure such services from a designate person/entity.

All direct orders are cleared with the Finance Ministry’s Direct Orders Office.

The article also contains gross misrepresentations. For instance, top cultural expert Toni Attard has two contracts – one as a consultant on cultural policy and another as an adviser on the internationalisation unit within Arts Council (Malta). He is paid €25,500 per annum for both contracts, not €51,000 a year. Similarly, Ray Calleja gets €42,000 per annum, not €126,000 per annum.

Lastly, reference is made to a contract of €20,000 per annum to notary Bernice Cassar as a press officer “two months after the election”. She was engaged on a contract for service before, not after, the last general election with the ministry and was tasked with handling the communications aspect of the Justice Council (on the ministry’s side) during Malta’s presidency of the Council of the European Union. She did that very well and was fully qualified for the job. After the election, her contract was resumed for a few months (focusing on parliamentary duties) and she then furthered her professional career elsewhere as a notary.

Comments are free, but facts are sacred.

Editorial note: The article in question was based on information that appeared on The Malta Government Gazette, including dates, the value of direct contracts and people/companies receiving public. According to public procurement rules, direct orders should be limited to exceptional cases.