Former mayor signed GreenMT contract without consultation – Sliema local council

Just a day after former Sliema PN mayor Nikki Dimech testified in court that PN secretary-general Paul Borg Olivier asked him "to give preference" to GreenMT, current Sliema councilors today said that Joanna Gonzi had signed the contract without first consulting them.

Dimech had lost his post as mayor in September 2010 when PN councilors used their six-man majority to elect deputy mayor Joanna Gonzi in his stead. The election took place at the time when Nikki Dimech was facing bribery charges.

During a press conference held today to launch the reform in waste management services in Sliema, Mayor Anthony Chircop announced that as part of the waste management campaign, GreenMT would be carrying out an education campaign to reduce waste.

According to Dimech's testimony, the GreenMT contract included a €72,000 educational campaign obligation to be taken up by the winning contractor, in a bid to finance a campaign which would lead residents to separate their waste.

"Following Paul Borg Olivier's call to tell me which company to prefer, I never signed any contract, and this remained pending, until I was removed from office and the next PN mayor approved the contract two weeks into her new job," Dimech said.

But according to PN councilor Paul Radmilli - who has headed the waste management plan since being elected to council this year - "the education campaign was free of charge".

Chircop insisted that the present councilors had no say when GreenMT was assigned the contract as this had been agreed upon by the previous council.

However, PL councilor Marianne Aquilina - who was part of the previous council - told MaltaToday that they hadn't been "given any choice".

"We didn't have any options. We were simply not consulted.  Mrs Gonzi went ahead and signed the contract behind our backs," Aquilina said.

The mayor also told MaltaToday that the present local council had to carry on with the tenders approved by the previous council. He however added that contracts will be up for review.

"When the time comes, we'll discuss them and see what decisions need to be taken," Chircop added.

Today's PN councilors are completely new, having all been elected during February's round of council elections. Sliema will also go to the polls again next year.