The government has skirted questions on whether utility billing company ARMS Ltd is being privatised. Replying to a parliamentary question by Opposition MP Kristy Debono, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici, standing in for Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi, said that “a business process improvement” exercise was being carried out at the utility company.

ARMS is a joint venture between Enemalta and the Water Services Corporation, responsible for both companies’ billing operations. The reply did little to quell persistent reports that talks had already started with Accenture, an international management consultancy firm, over the utility company’s privatisation. Sources said one of the options being considered by the Energy Ministry is to outsource all services rendered by ARMS to the private company at a cost of about €6 million a year.

The minister has to come clean on this matter and explain if a brokerage fee was paid to Accenture

But questions sent to the ministry by this newspaper as far back as July, when the issue first surfaced in Parliament, remained unanswered. In July, Ms Debono referred to a statement made by Accenture a few days earlier announcing its involvement in the deal between Shanghai Electric Power and Enemalta.

It said it had offered its “advisory services” to the Chinese company, which acquired a 33 per cent stake in Enemalta, the State energy company.

The first in a series of parliamentary questions by Ms Debono were answered by Dr Bonnici as Dr Mizzi was indisposed. He stuck to the same reply mentioned above when asked directly about privatisation talks.

Ms Debono told this newspaper yesterday she got wind of ongoing talks the government was having with a private firm for the privatisation of ARMS or outsourcing of services. She said it was quite unusual that Dr Mizzi had not kept the media abreast of this development.

“The minister has to come clean on this matter and explain if a brokerage fee was paid to Accenture for its involvement in the [Shanghai Electric Power] deal, what involvement it has in ARMS and its relationship with the Labour Party,” she said. Ms Debono said the minister could set the record straight by answering various other parliamentary questions that had been pending for a number of weeks.