Firm took Commonwealth and euro contracts during Alan Camilleri’s stewardship

The owner of media company Content House has confirmed that his company was awarded various advertising contracts in expressions of interest and direct orders from the former Nationalist administration.

Jesmond Bonello took the witness stand in a defamation case he filed against Mediatoday's managing editor Saviour Balzan, claiming that it was not a rare occurrence for media companies to obtain government advertising "when the government owns half the Maltese economy".

Bonello was a former Radio 101 journalist who moved on to The Malta Independent and later The Times before setting up the Content House subsidiary for Allied Newspapers.

Bonello also claimed that Saviour Balzan had asked him to set up a joint company. "I refused and he started to attack me through his newspapers," Bonello said.

The statement was denied in a comment by Saviour Balzan, after the court session ended.

Bonello told the court that his company's revenues were 90% derived from private sources. "However we were awarded government jobs through direct orders and expressions of interest, but I never begged the government for work." He said that in 2005 his company coordinated the communications work for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, that it was part of a consortium to disseminate information on EU funds in 2006, as well as having coordinated the euro currency changeover campaign and a government bid to bring EASO to Malta.

Bonello said that his company was awarded a contract to disseminate information on EU funds to farmers because it had "the best and cheapest bid", citing Tony Meli, the project manager of the said contract.

Bonello also confirmed he was a director of government investment promotion arm Malta Enterprise between 2008 and 2013.

He said he was a personal friend of then Malta Enterprise chairman Alan Camilleri, who had captained the organisation of the CHOGM in 2005, and before that had been the prime minister's communications coordinator. Bonello said that he was never well acquainted with Edgar Galea-Curmi, the personal assistant to former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi, and that he only knew him through social events.

Bonello's company was also awarded the PR contract for the euro changeover campaign during the time that Camilleri was chairman of the National Eurochangeover Committee (NECC).

Bonello said his company was never awarded contracts from Malta Enteprise during his time as director on the state company's board. "However I did consultancy for the government, and when in 2011 Air Malta was under political siege, I was asked to help. Eventually I decided to resign from the ME directorship, which paid me a small retainer of €500 monthly."