Government handed cleaning firm €10 million after three tenders fell apart
More than €10 million have been handed to the same cleaning company by the government after three competitive tenders fell apart.
Three negotiated procedure contracts – direct orders by another name – were issued to the same firm by the Education Ministry to clean all of Malta’s state schools in line with rules introduced because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The contracts did not allow for a competitive process and in one instance were slammed by the courts as illegal and a result of government incompetence.
In 2019, Brightness JV, a joint venture between local firm Specialist Group Cleaners Ltd, owned by Valerio Camilleri and Wilson Mifsud, and Italian company Diemme, won a two-year contract to clean all state schools.
Then, in August 2021, the Education Ministry tasked the company to do the same job, this time awarding a contract by ‘negotiated procedure’, claiming its hands were tied by the virus outbreak.
Ministry claims 'extreme urgency'
Justifying the decision, the ministry claimed there was an “extreme urgency” due to new protocols issued during the outbreak. It said it could not wait to go through the lengthy tender process.
In 2021, the Health Ministry released rules...