The government spent well over half a million euros on billboard advertising in five years, figures tabled in Parliament show.

In a series of parliamentary questions, Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi asked each ministry for the amount it spent on billboard advertising, with the total being around €589,700 since March 2013, when the Labour Party assumed power.

According to the data supplied by the different ministries, in the past five years, the Energy Ministry spent the most on billboards: more than €155,289.

Of this, over €57,600 was spent by the Regulator for Energy and Water Services in 2013, while another €12,985 was spent the following year.

In 2014, a further €48,226 was spent by ARMS.

The Environment Ministry also allocated a substantial amount of funds for advertising on billboards – more than €139,400 in five years.

According to the available data, in 2017 alone, the Sustainable Development, Environment and Climate Change department spent €46,668 on billboards, while the previous year, the same department spent €31,112.

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In five years, a total of €29,367 was spent by Wasteserv Malta.

The spending on billboards by the Economy Ministry was the third highest in the past five years, with €97,200 allocated to the Commerce Department alone in 2016.

The Gozo, Education, Transport and Justice Ministries also allocated more than €25,000 each. Meanwhile, the Foreign Affairs, Home Affairs and Finance Ministries did not spend anything on this kind of advertising in the years since March 2013.

The Office of the Prime Minister is yet to supply details on how much it has spent on billboard advertising in the past five years.

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