New environment minister to address Wasteserv shortcomings

All shortcomings at the national waste agency, Wasteserv will be addressed immediately, environment minister Leo Brincat said.

The sustainable development, environment and climate change minister said so during a visit to the Marsa incinerator, where he met the plant's management and employees.

Brincat, who yesterday held a meeting with Wasteserv's chairman Ben Farrugia, pointed out that all aspects related to Wasteserv's operations must be of the highest standards, adding that good governance must be guaranteed by thorough transparency.

"All the shortcomings highlighted by the Auditor General on Wastserv must be addressed immediately, to have a clear and correct picture of the past and current state of affairs at Wasteserv," Brincat said.

The environment minister, a inexorable critic of the agency in the past years, also put the agancy's employees mind at rest by stressing that no jobs were endangered and announced that a meeting with Wasteserv workers would be held shortly.

Brincat also explained that if the workers agreed, the meeting would be open to the press.

In December, the national waste agency had insisted that it had fully cooperated with the auditing exercise carried out by the National Audit Office, adding that top officials of the agency were also involved in talks with NAO representatives to clarify any questions that may have arisen.

Late last year, the Auditor General presented the House of Representatives with the audit report for 2011, in which he raised several points of concern with regards to Wasteserv Malta.  An audit of capital and recurrent expenditure incurred by Wasteserv Malta Ltd revealed "long delays and substantial cost variations on capital projects".

The Auditor General said that lack of transparency and non-compliance with procurement regulations were also noted, especially regarding sub-contracted labour. He also highlighted the inadequacy of the overall internal controls as a major concern.

In the Auditor General's report WasteServ was rapped for not seeking the Budget Affairs Director General's approval for changes to the contract which the report said was increased from €1.1 million to €29.1 million.

However, WasteServ insisted that there was no wrongdoing in the contract awarded to JF Solutions for the provision of labourers, which hit the headlines in recent weeks following the publication of the Auditor General's report.

WasteServ chairman Ben Farrugia had told MaltaToday: "We have done everything by the book. The Auditor General maintained that we should have sought the approval of the Director General at the Budget Office, however we explained that the contract was given the go-ahead by the Contracts Department within the same finance ministry and the Budget Office was made aware when our yearly budget was approved."