Qala mayor Paul Buttigieg is under investigation by the local councils department after handing a series of minor contacts to members of his family. 

Times of Malta is informed that Buttigieg is the subject of an investigation which was requested by Christopher Galea, the monitoring director at the local government department, last month.

Buttigieg is being probed over whether he broke the Local Councils Act, a criminal offence, after possibly failing to declare conflicts of interests in the awarding of council contracts. 

In August, Times of Malta reported how Buttigieg had given his family nearly €4,000 in public funds in recent years.

Gives family nearly €4,000 in public funds in recent years

According to accounts published by the Gozitan local council, Buttigieg has overseen the disbursement of €3,951 in direct orders to his own daughter and sister since 2017.

The bulk of the direct orders went to Qala-based printing press A&M Printing, owned by his sister.

According to the council’s accounts, the firm has taken regular contracts to print leaflets and banners for council-sponsored events.

The council has also green-lit direct orders to the mayor’s own daughter Patricia Buttigieg – a soprano – for singing at council-organised events.

The Labour mayor has defended the spend, saying it had only been flagged to the media as part of a coordinated smear campaign against him.

“This is just more of what I have become used to – more spin targeting me because I will not allow developers to destroy what little is left of the countryside in Qala. I have spoken up and said ‘no’ to big developers and this is what I get in return,” he said.

Buttigieg has been in the headlines in the past for speaking out against development in the Gozitan countryside and has been a leading voice against plans for a hotel and marina in the idyllic Ħondoq bay.

On Sunday, Buttigieg said that the effort to oust him from the council was also part of a campaign against him driven by hidden interests.