One of the governors of a General Workers’ Union foundation entrusted by Jobsplus to run a multimillion-euro scheme was awarded a direct order to do auditing work and advise that same entity, the Times of Malta is informed.

Despite Robert Borg being both a service provider to Jobsplus, the government employment agency, and also administering a concession on its behalf, Education and Employment Minister Evarist Bartolo said he saw no conflict of interest in the two roles.

Robert Borg

According to information published in The Malta Government Gazette, a newly established accounting firm, Reanda Malta Ltd, was last December awarded a €75,000 direct order by Jobsplus to provide it with auditing and advisory services.

Research conducted shows that one of Reanda’s owners is Mr Borg, the GWU’s financial controller, who sits on all the boards of the commercial entities the union owns, including the Community Workers’ Scheme Enterprise Foundation.

The GWU foundation was given a contract by Jobsplus in 2015 to administer a scheme on its behalf aimed at those who had been jobless for a number of years.

Through the scheme, about 600 people were struck off the unemployment register and given mostly maintenance work at government schools and local councils. Participants receive the minimum wage – about €750 a month – and the GWU gets €980 a month for every worker it engages through the scheme. The worker’s wage and NI contributions are deducted from this amount.

The role entrusted to Mr Borg’s auditing firm has nothing to do with the Jobsplus scheme administered by the GWU

It has emerged that the foundation entrusted the scheme’s operation to another GWU commercial entity, for which Mr Borg and the GWU’s legal adviser, Aaron Mifsud Bonnici, sit on the board. The company – District Operations Ltd – administers the Jobsplus concession from an office in Ħamrun rented from Mr Borg.

A senior Jobsplus official disagreed with Mr Bartolo on the conflict of interest issue. He said the conflict of interest was very evident, because someone who was receiving funds from a government entity was now also advising and auditing other funds within the same entity.

“If this is not a conflict, then the sun is blue,” the official said.

An Education Ministry spokeswoman insisted that the role entrusted to Mr Borg’s auditing firm had nothing to do with the Jobsplus scheme administered by the GWU.

“These services are not related to the community scheme,” she said, while confirming that Mr Borg’s auditing firm had been given a nine-month job related to an EU-funded programme.

Asked why a call for tenders for the auditing job had not been issued and Mr Borg’s Reanda Malta Ltd was instead hand-picked, the spokeswoman said this had been necessary “in the light of urgent work related to a European Social Funds programme valued at €35 million”.