Standards report absolves Ian Borg over €500,000 in direct orders for metro project roadshow

The Standards Commissioner stated Public Service procurement regulations should be amended to introduce penalties against individuals found to have breached regulations, even if the authorities employing them do not take action.

The recommendation was made by Standards Commissioner former Chief Justice Joseph Azzopardi in his report over an investigation into whether Foreign Minister, at the time Transport Minister Ian Borg, broke procurement regulations when failing to mention several direct orders given to events company TEC Ltd. when responding to numerous parliamentary questions on the Metro project. The investigation had been requested by independent candidate Arnold Cassola following a report by The Shift.

In his report, the commissioner said he had no remit over the answering of parliamentary questions, stating it was the Speaker Anglu Farrugia’s responsibility to do so.

He also pointed out Transport Malta (TM) had organised the event, and not the ministry. No evidence had been produced that the minister had directed the awarding of such direct orders.

But Azzopardi said TM breached its own regulation on procurement and direct orders when awarding 20 direct orders to TEC Ltd for the organisation of the exhibition. The commissioner stated it was not his remit to pass judgment on whether the direct orders were needed.

However, once TM decided to issue direct orders, it should have first sought approval from the Finance Ministry or the Department of Contracts, in line with public procurement regulations. According to the Auditor-General, no such prior approval was obtained, which violated both government procurement regulations and the authority’s own rules.

Procurement regulations therefore need to be amended to allow for officials responsible for such breaches to be penalised, even if the authorities responsible fail to take action, the commissioner said.

Minister reaction

In a short reaction on his Facebook profile, Minister Ian Borg said the case has been closed after the commissioner found no involvement from his end.

“On the other hand, the discussion on whether mass transportation should be introduced needs to be continued from when it was left off years ago,” Borg said.