Direct order claims: Content House did benefit from government DOs

The Office of the Prime Minister were amongst those government entities that offered contracts to the company Content House by means of direct orders.  In ten months the company was awarded over €93,000. The company has benefited from a substantial number of direct orders from other departments and ministries.

The company is run by former Times journalist Jesmond Bonello. Bonello is suing MaltaToday for libel over questions and comments made by managing editor Saviour Balzan in his weekly column, where Balzan asked and contended that the firm had benefited from direct orders.

Mr Bonello is well known for his close ties to the Nationalist party.

The Prime Minister’s secretariat used Content House through a direct order on a number of occasions but particularly for an advertising campaign linked to the MEPA reform which cost €39,409. The contract was given via a direct order issued by the Ministry of Finance.

Other services which came the company’s way via a direct order include an advertising campaign on local newspapers linked to MEPA reform, as well as the production of two audiovisual information slots of 90 seconds each which cost around €11,165 between them.

MEPA was another client of Content House in 2009, with several direct orders relating to advertising appearing in the Commercial Courier which is also produced by Content House, and other public relations and consultancy jobs as well as the production of the annual report. The fees paid to the agency through direct orders in that year from MEPA amounted to around €27,000.

The Malta Council for Culture and Arts used Content House for the design and printing of the Notte Bianca brochure, which came to €3,000. The Department of Information used the agency for consultancy services regarding the Malta Pavilion at the International Fair of 2008 at a cost of €6,000, again via a direct order.

The Ministry for Education, Family and Work also used Content House for some services but chiefly for advert bookings in the Commercial Courier 1. The agency also carried out work for the Commission for Higher Education from October 2007 but this was awarded after a call for tenders.

The Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA), which falls under Transport and Communications Minister Austin Gatt, also made use of Content House in 2005, 2006 and 2008. Total fees in relation to the printing of the annual report and other related services amounted to around €18,000, but these were awarded after a request for proposals or a call for tenders.

Other ministries and departments were quizzed over tenders to Content House had not yet replied to parliamentary questions put them. 

The director of Content House Jesmond Bonello also serves as a director on Malta Enterprise. He is currently in the running for the prestigious Rubens Award while the company rose to fame when it landed the lucrative Euro Changeover PR contract for the NECC which was chaired by none other than Alan Camilleri who also chairs the Malta Enterprise board of which Bonello is a member.