A company whose shareholders are considered to be “very close to the Labour Party” was among those given direct orders for a €6 million shooting range at Ta’ Kandja.
It also resulted that architect Claude Mallia was allocated €130,000 in direct orders for services connected to the facility.
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Mr Mallia has received other direct orders since Labour’s return to power and was also appointed to various government boards, including those related to the Planning Authority.
The Education Ministry last week refused to give Times of Malta a list of the 19 direct orders issued for the shooting range. However, Minister Evarist Bartolo tabled a list of all the direct orders awarded by Sports Malta in reply to written parliamentary questions on the subject from Nationalist MP Ryan Callus.
Read: Three ministries dish out €30m in direct orders
Bava Holdings Limited, a company which, according to its website, “caters for all types of construction and provision of furniture”, was given five direct orders whose value exceeds €526,000.
As per contracts awarded to it without the normal tendering procedure, the company, whose shareholders also own furniture maker Construct Furniture operating from the same Luqa offices, will be engaged in the relocation of huts in the Ta’ Kandja area, do excavation works, offer mechanical and engineering services and make alterations and finishes.
The government also engaged Bava in building the multimillion-euro Kappara Junction. However, in this case, the company won a tender together with its consortium partners.
The company featured in the list of cheques allegedly hand delivered by Edward Caruana on behalf of the Foundation for Tomorrow’s schools. Mr Caruana, who served as Mr Bartolo’s chief canvasser in the past, is facing corruption charges over kickbacks in connection with FTS contracts.
Construct Furniture was in the news in 2016 when it emerged that a New Year message from Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was recorded in a new kitchen supplied by the company. A person who appeared in the clip saying he had benefitted from a government scheme for first-time buyers turned out to be the son of one of Construct’s owners.
Apart from construction jobs, including a direct order worth €2.4 million to Bonnici Brothers for the building of a backstop at the shooting range, direct orders were also awarded for project management: €60,000 to GC Consultants Ltd for procurement services, €32,000 to MS Three Services Ltd, a site officer, €33,000 to Jethron Azzopardi and for a topographic survey €12,000 to MV Camilleri.
The government justified the use of this expeditious procurement procedure with “urgency” because the range must be completed in time for a World Cup competition in summer.
The International Shooting Sport Federation had announced that Malta would host the competition in September 2015.
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