Cleaning services at St Vincent de Paul Complex, in Luqa, cost three times the amount projected in 2011, the Times of Malta is informed.

A three-year competitive tender issued in 2011 had put the cleaning bill at the government’s old people’s residence at €3.2 million. However, the government has admitted it forked out three times that amount between 2015 and last year, paying a Naxxar firm, selected through a direct order, more than €9 million.

Details of the payments to X-Clean Ltd, show that company owner Denis Xuereb, of Naxxar received payments exceeding €9.5 million between April 2015 and last month. The information was given in Parliament by Family Affairs Minister Michael Falzon in reply to a written question tabled by Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi.

Initially, Mr Xuereb started billing the government slightly over €120,000 a month for his company’s services at the old people’s residence. However, the monthly bills kept rising, exceeding €300,000 a month by the end of last year. All payments were approved by the old people’s home management.

Exceeded €300,000 a month by the end of last year

When the three-year contract, issued in 2011 after a call for tenders, expired X-Clean Ltd was allocated a direct order, which was extended every six months with the Finance Ministry’s blessing.

After reports appeared on the Times of Malta about allegations of ‘abuse’ in connection with the cleaning services at the Luqa facility, the Department of Contracts, last month, issued a new call for tenders, which, it said, had been three years in the making due to “complications”.

Contracts director general Anthony Cachia told this newspaper his department had only authorised payments for cleaning services. However, the Times of Malta reported that X-Clean was also paid for a raft of other services, including gardening, hairdressing, engineering and secretarial work. The home’s CEO, Josianne Cutajar, failed to say why such services were procured from a cleaning company.

Earlier this week, this newspaper said industry operators were smelling a rat in the technical requirements issued in the latest public call. According to the specifications, only cleaning companies with a turnover of €12 million are entitled to bid. An identical tender for a much bigger contract, at Mater Dei Hospital, had set the turnover at €1 million.

It is known that, in 2015, X-Clean had also been given direct orders for cleaning services at other government residential homes for old people when such facilities fell under the political remit of now Home Affairs Minister Michael Farrugia.

Payments to X-Clean Ltd

2015: €1,230,652
2016: €2,053,843
2017: €2,562,549
2018: €3,335,867
Total: €9,182,908