Consumers' authority pays €333,000 in annual rent

According to Consumer Affairs Minister Helena Dalli, the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority was paying over €333,000 in rent for its premises in Blata l-Bajda.

Hitting out at the previous administration for lack of priorities, Dalli said that "despite the authority's lack of human and financial resources, the previous government had spent thousands of money to rent out new offices."

She explained that before it was set up in 2011, the authority was divided in two separate entities: the Consumer and Competition Department with offices in Santa Venera and the Maltese Authority for Standards which was housed at Evans Building in Valletta.

When the two entities amalgamated, becoming the MCCAA, the previous government looked to find new premises that would house some 100 workers.

"The offices in Santa Venera, rented by Malta Enterprise for a yearly sum of €29,000, had enough space to house the employees. Yet, without any consultation and for no clear reason, the previous government settled for another location," Dalli said.

The new location, Mizzi House in Blata l-Bajda, was costing the authority over €333,000.

The minister also said there were doubts on whether the building's owner was observing the contractual agreements, given that recently, MCCAA purchased HEPA filters, which costed around €6,500.