Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/943656
maltatoday SUNDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2018 2 News MATTHEW VELLA THE bulk of the Gozo Channel's workforce is being outsourced to just one company, without a public call for tenders. Gozo Channel employs its sea- men, mooring men, cafeteria and cleaning staff, all through one of more companies by security entre- preneur Jovan Grech. Grech, the brother-in-law of Malta's High Commissioner to the UK Norman Hamilton, received over €1.3 million in direct orders to provide the ferry service with em- ployees instead of employing them directly. Grech is a former sergeant and member of the anti-terrorism 'Special Mobile Unit', the 1980s precursor to the Rapid Intervention Unit. In 2017, his company Signal 8 Se- curity was paid €786,499 in seven separate direct orders, for the pro- vision of security offices and moor- ing men. In 2016 and 2017, his joint venture Trust Business Solutions (TBS) was awarded a total €521,335 in 21 separate direct orders for cleaners, cafeteria staff, and moor- ing men. TBS is a joint venture with JF Security. The direct orders are part of an ongoing saga about Gozo Chan- nel's employment practices, which Nationalist MP Chris Said had pre- viously attacked as a pre-electoral ploy for favours through jobs and contracts. Direct orders are con- tracts given out without a public call for tenders, and always require the approval of the finance ministry. TBS had already been granted a public tender for cleaning services on Gozo Channel in July 2015, for €120,000. When the tender was awarded, one of the bidders protested that three bidders failed to split their of- fers as instructed between manpow- er costs and overhead costs, a rule that allows decision-makers to spot cases of precarious employment. The appellant, Kooperativa Indafa Pubblika (KIP) said TBS had made a one cent provision for overheads, effectively making a mockery of the rules since "it was not conceivable that they award the service at 1c per hour as overheads, and still pay the employees the minimum wage." KIP had told the public contracts appeals board that TBS's offer meant that they would be paying their employees the legal wages, but not declaring their overheads, making a loss. The Gozo Channel company replied that even if certain bidders were bound to make a loss, this was of no interest to the con- tracting authority, which was only interested in the financial offer. In its decision, the appeals board up- held the Gozo Channel's reasoning and said that the contract did not preclude bidders from quoting zero rates per hour for overhead costs. Gozo Channel executive chair- man Joe Cordina, a former Labour party executive and candidate, has in the past defended the practice as mere outsourcing. "We sub-con- tract. Mooring is all sub-contracted, and crew members are part sub- contracted," he had told the Malta Independent, likening the situation to restaurants which employ more in summer but need to retain flex- ibility during low seasons. Gozo Channel has been using short-term contracts during 2017, usually at three months at a time, ostensibly because the public ser- vice obligation was due to close in September and the company was instructed in July not to issue any long-term offers until then. During the entirety of 2017, the company engaged its workers through various security compa- nies, such as Executive Services, which was given four direct orders totalling €390,346 for the provision of seamen. In total, Gozo Channel's out- sourcing strategy – via direct order and not with any public call for ten- der – cost €1,769,702. mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Gozo Channel workforce employed by direct order for €1.7 million Outsourcing is new norm: former SMU officer's security company takes €1.3 million in direct orders TIA RELJIC THE President of the Republic yesterday is- sued a denial that her Office was in any way involved in the organisation of the Paqpaqli ghall-Istrina supercar event, which ended tragically when a high-speed vehicle crashed into spectators. Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca issued a state- ment in the week when her predecessor George Abela suggested to a court hearing evidence on the 2015 supercar crash, that the Office of the President had to assume respon- sibility for any event under the patronage of the Malta Community Chest Fund. Members of the organising committee and the supercar driver, British millionaire Paul Bailey, are charged with involuntarily causing grievous bodily harm, as well causing damage to various motor vehicles, through impru- dence, carelessness and non-observance of regulations. The President has renounced her Constitutional immunity to take the witness stand in the case. "It is correct to state that the Paqpaqli għall-Istrina event, conceived with the noble intention of raising funds for the Malta Com- munity Chest Fund Foundation, came into existence before the President commenced her term in 2014 as President of Malta. But it should be noted that, other than encouraging the Paqpaqli għall-Istrina team to continue to raise funds for the Malta Community Chest Fund Foundation and lending her patronage to the event (as she does with other third-par- ty fundraising events), the President played absolutely no part in the organisation of it," Coleiro Preca said in her statement. Earlier in the day, the President refused to give a comment to MaltaToday over George Abela's court testimony, in which he stated his view that responsibility for events under his patronage always "fell squarely upon [his] shoulders." In her statement issued later in the after- noon, Coleiro Preca said she attended part of a meeting in July 2015 by the organising team, but that she took no substantive decisions in this regard. "Nor did the President assume any organi- sational role in Paqpaqli għall-Istrina. In- deed, it would have been irresponsible for the Head of State, who had no knowledge and no technical expertise in automotive issues, to have done so." Coleiro Preca also appeared to distance her- self from any responsibility for the MCCF, which falls under her patronage. She referred to what she described as "a very deliberate step" in April 2015 to create a dis- tinction between the Office of the President and the Malta Community Chest Fund Foun- dation. "This radical change in the Malta Commu- nity Chest Fund was reflected in its constitu- tion and this is because the Malta Community Chest Fund was formally set up as a founda- tion regulated by law. Therefore, this change effectively reduced the dependence of the Malta Community Chest Fund Foundation on the Head of State, significantly altering the nature of the link that previously existed be- tween the two." In this change, the MCCF foundation re- tained its role as a fundraiser for, and benefi- ciary of several initiatives like Paqpaqli ghall- Istrina. Coleiro Preca said the MCCF's involvement in Paqpaqli ghall-Istrina was strictly limited to providing administrative support, endorse- ment, promotion, and covering expenses related to the event. "Any statement to the contrary is at best misleading and at worst a distortion of the truth," she said. "The Office of the President affirms that ever since this horrific incident took place, its sole objective has been to express solidarity with the victims – and to cooperate with the authorities to ensure the facts are established. "While seeking to clarify any misconcep- tions that have arisen, the Office of the Presi- dent would also like to appeal to everyone to refrain from unhelpful and inaccurate con- jecture, which serves no purpose other than to hinder the vital quest for the truth, so that justice can be truly served." Coleiro Preca distances herself from Paqpaqli supercar organisers President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca launching the 2014 Paqpaqli ghall-Istrina event with Paqpaqli host Tonio Darmanin (left) and her partner Edgar Preca President says she had no role in tragic 2015 supercar event and distances herself from Community Chest Fund foundation