Konrad Mizzi refusing to reveal Projects Malta CEO contract in parliament

The tourism minister is refusing to reveal details on a Projects Malta subsidiary and its CEO’s remuneration package in parliament.

Now in his new role as good governance spokesperson, the former Opposition leader Simon Busuttil got no joy from minister Konrad Mizzi, whose secret Panama company revealed in the Panama Papers is the subject of an ongoing magisterial inquiry instigated by a complaint from Busuttil.

In various PQs he filed over the tourism ministry’s public-private partnership arm Projects Malta, Busuttil got little or no replies on the people running the subsidiary Projects Plus.

The same ministry has refused a Freedom of Information request from The Times of Malta to give details on projects that Projects Plus is working on, saying that it “may be contrary to public interest”.

In PQs filed by Busuttil, who also requested for CEO James Camenuzli’s contract of employment, the minister replied that the contract of employment bound both parties with “reciprocal confidentiality”.

In another question requesting who the members of the Projects Malta board are and what their conditions of work are, Mizzi also refused to table their contract of employment. “Projects Malta is run by an executive chairman whose employment is contractual.”

Mizzi also used this standard reply for several other PQs filed by Busuttil on the same entity.

Camenzuli, an engineer by profession, was appointed chairman of the Malta Resources Authority in 2013 as well as CEO of the Foundation for Medical Services. He has since resigned from both positions and is now executive chairman of Projects Malta.

Projects Plus is run by Camenzuli and William Wait, the non-executive chairman of Malta Enterprise and group director of the private corporation Toly Products.

The Projects Malta board of directors includes Transport Malta executive chairman James Piscopo, Malta Gaming Authority executive chairman Joseph Cuschieri, finance ministry permanent secretary Alfred Camilleri, and Malta Enterprise CEO Mario Galea. The company secretary is lawyer Aron Mifsud Bonnici, who holds the same position in various other government companies such as ARMS, Enemalta and its various subsidiaries, as well as the holding company and subsidiaries of the General Workers Union.

Projects Malta has been the entity responsible for various privatisation and land devolution deals, such as the Vitals Global Healthcare hospital concession and the sale of land in St George’s Bay to the DB Group for the construction of a high-rise hotel and luxury residence.