Energy Minister Miriam Dalli sustains gravy train for Konrad Mizzi’s henchman

One of the closest aides to disgraced former minister Konrad Mizzi has been awarded yet another contract by an agency that falls under the remit of Minister Miriam Dalli, according to the Government Gazette.

Alex Cutajar was handpicked by the Energy and Water Agency to provide “temporary services for the organisation of press events”. The contract was given to Cutajar in April 2021, but it was only published in the Government Gazette of 12 April – a year later.

Cutajar and Dalli used to work at the ministry when Mizzi was still at the helm.

The Energy and Water Agency, yet another government agency set up by Mizzi during his tenure, is responsible for “implementing the government’s policies in the energy and water sectors” – the same remit supposedly covered by the energy ministry.

The agency, which started off as a small set up as an extension of Mizzi’s former ministry with just a handful of employees politically linked to the former minister, has grown considerably over the years and is now estimated to employ more than 50 officials, all paid by taxpayers.

Despite the bloated agency, the government felt the need to engage Cutajar’s services for its very limited press events.

This is not the first contract given to Cutajar after his former boss was forced to resign from Cabinet in 2019 following the revelations of the Daphne Caruana Galizia assassination.

In 2020, after he found himself out of a government job, Cutajar was given a €30,000 contract by Projects Plus – another agency set up by Mizzi – for the provision of consultancy in “image and strategy”. This agency also has a very restricted remit on project management of government projects.

The government agency is led by James Camenzuli – an engineer handpicked by Konrad Mizzi to steer several tainted contracts including the multi-billion deal on the privatisation of three public hospitals.

Only a few months ago, Cutajar also announced that he was appointed as a partner in a publication called Temple Magazine, founded by Josette Schembri Vella – the wife of former OPM Chief of Staff Keith Schembri.

Both Keith and Josette Schembri are facing money laundering charges in court.