WSC says €4.1 million outsourcing contracts were needed
Contracts relate to specialised technical resources to support the national investment water plan
The water utility company spent more than €4 million last year paying a private company to supply it with technical staff.
According to tender information in the government gazette, the Water Services Corporation (WSC) handed two direct contracts to OZO Group for outsourcing services in 2025, valued at €4.1 million. The reference number for both contracts matches that of a contract awarded in 2023, also for outsourcing services, valued at €205,252.
A spokesperson for WSC said the 2025 contracts relate to specialised technical resources to support the national investment water plan, a 10-year programme to invest €310 million in the country’s water and wastewater sector.
The services include project management, technical coordination, supervisory control and data acquisition, electrical works and assistant technical support. The spokesperson said the WSC first sought to procure these services through an open competitive tender process but this yielded no viable awards. The corporation resorted to the direct order as a “stop gap solution to safeguard operational continuity. This course of action is expressly provided for under public procurement regulations governing such circumstances,” the spokesperson noted.
Cheapest
OZO Group was selected as the cheapest compliant offer in accordance with established procurement principles, the spokesperson added. “All outsourced resources are remunerated strictly in line with the WSC’s collective agreements, ensuring full alignment with the corporation’s employment standards.”
Apart from the outsourcing contracts, WSC published 15 direct orders for emergency works across various locations. Their total value amounted to €2.8 million, split across five companies.
One of the beneficiaries of the emergency works contracts was LK Ltd, owned by Ludwig Dimech, which received €1.2 million across four contracts. The same company was behind the excavation works linked to the building collapse that killed Miriam Pace in 2020.
A direct order, or a negotiated procedure without prior publication, can be used for public service contracts when no suitable tenders were submitted in response to a previous procedure.
In public procurement, a contracting authority can invoke emergency provisions in urgent situations brought about by unforeseeable events and when the time limits laid down for normal procedures cannot be complied with. The emergency cannot be caused by the contracting entity’s own inefficiency.