The legal firm of former tourism minister Edward Zammit Lewis will earn at least €45,000 more this year thanks to a new government consultancy job given to him by the Office of the Prime Minister a few weeks ago.
The latest government contract awarded to Dr Zammit Lewis, who is one of Prime Minster Joseph Muscat’s inner circle of friends, is for legal services to the National Development and Social Fund. This is an entity which falls under the OPM and is responsible for the administration of cash coming from the sale of passports.
According to the contract, signed in November and tabled in Parliament last week following a PQ put by former PN leader Simon Busuttil, Dr Zammit Lewis and his legal partner Veronique Dalli will be giving legal advice to the cash-for-passports administrators at the rate of €90 per hour, from taxpayers’ money.
The contract guarantees earnings of at least €45,000 a year: “Based on two hours per diem as per Expression of Interest issued (and as per rate quoted by us), the minimum amount to be paid is circa €45,000 (VAT included) per annum,” the contract stipulates.
The minimum to be paid is circa €45,000
Tabling the contract, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat emphasised that the MP’s firm is one of two providing legal services to the passports fund and that so far a total of €2,700 have been paid out.
He insisted that the former minister, now a backbencher, has no other consultancy job with any other entity within the OPM.
Soon after losing his Cabinet seat in June 2017, after failing to be elected to Parliament on his own steam, Dr Zammit Lewis was given a raft of government jobs, including a lucrative one from Identity Malta, which falls under Dr Muscat’s remit.
Asked whether Dr Muscat, in stating that Dr Zammit Lewis had only one consultancy job at the OPM, had made a mistake, a spokesman for the Prime Minister insisted that the reply to Parliament was correct.
Reminded about his Identity Malta job, the spokesman clarified that this contract came to end last month (in February).
According to the contract, Dr Zammit Lewis started his new consultancy job with the passport funds agency on November 13, when his contract with Identity Malta was still in force.
Apart from the €100 an hour paid by Identity Malta, since the last elections Dr Zammit Lewis has also been recruited as a legal advisor to the Ministry for Water and Energy at €4,333 a month, and as a legal advisor at the Lands Authority under the remit of Transport Minister Ian Borg.
Last January, Dr Zammit Lewis made an impassioned plea to Dr Muscat not to resign, saying this was “crucial”.
ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com