Marsaskala local council denied funds for not following policy guidelines

The Marsaskala local council issued a call for tenders in 2005 for the provision of consultancy services to investigate air quality in the area. The tender included that the fees incurred would be settled by the council itself.

Before the call was issued, the Marsaskala local council requested government to provide financial assistance to underpin the study. However, since at the time government had not taken any policy decision on providing financial assistance in similar projects, the request was turned down.

The same council approached government again in 2009 with the same request. The parliamentary secretary for local councils replied that the request could not be met since government was not offering assistance for such projects when the study was commissioned in 2005.

The parliamentary secretary had said on TV program Kliem u Fatti in 2008 that the initiative “was launched when problems regarding the Sant’Antnin (waste facility) arose and the local councils were offered financial assistance to carry out this report but had turned down the offer... The Qala local council had submitted its request and was allocated these funds.”

The Ombudsman found that although it was the case that the Qala local council asked for assistance and was told no more than €10,000 would be available, no assistance was ever given as it failed to prove it followed the established policy guidelines.

He added that assistance was only intended for local councils and should not reach an organisation such as the Committee against the recycling project; on whose behalf the grievance was submitted.

In his final ruling, the Ombudsman held that the council’s request was rejected because government had not yet allocated funds for the purpose. On the Qala local council’s request for funds, he held it could not be considered as it was not made under policy guidelines and ruled it unjustified.