Agriculture ministry in direct orders frenzy – €2 million in six months

The Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry, led by Gozitan Minister Anton Refalo and Parliamentary Secretary Alicia Bugeja Said, issued almost 100 direct orders in the last six months of 2024, amounting to over €2 million.

Information published in the Government Gazette shows it is among other ministries attempting to circumvent public procurement rules, which dictate that competitive tenders must be issued if the cost is over €10,000.

The ministry, through its various agencies, issued repeated direct orders slightly under the threshold to be able to direct public funds to its preferred supplier.

A case in point is three direct orders approved by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary Sharlo Camilleri to the auditing firm RSM for various internal audit services. The three direct orders, all less than €10,000, were issued on the same day. RSM was set up by Deo Scerri and was, for years, the Labour Party’s auditing firm.

The ministry used the same tactic to issue several direct orders to others. For example, a vet clinic in Naxxar, Zoomangi, was given three separate direct orders over three months for ’emergency vet service’, which cost over €120,000.

The Commissioner for Animal Welfare, Alison Bezzina, with the ministry’s blessing, issued four separate direct orders of over €30,000 to Media Trendz-Synish Ltd for a ‘cat microchipping campaign’. Three of the four direct orders were issued on the same day, clearly in breach of government financial rules.

The same commissioner dished out tens of thousands to TV presenters Moira Delia (TVM), Darryl Grima (NET) and Peter Borg (ONE) for her regular appearance on their programmes.

Among the most significant contracts given were €112,000 to Ganado Advocates for legal services, several contracts to E-Cubed for economic studies, €123,000 to Technoline for animal welfare medical kits and €140,000 to RVC Ltd for ‘software and service pillars’ at the Department of Fisheries.

RVC Ltd is the same company that Labour engages for its logistics during electoral campaigns.