GreenMT received €670,000 from MEPA while under investigation – report
GWU daily l-Orizzont reports that GreenMT CEO Joe Attard was 'the contact person' for these payments.
Waste recovery company GreenMT received eight payments totalling €670,000 from the Malta Planning and Environment Authority (MEPA), despite being under investigation by the same authority.
The payments to GreenMT - a subsidiary of the GRTU - were made between May 2011 and June 2012.
According to GWU daily l-Orizzont, at least three of the payments were made following "pressure" from the previous administration, including a direct order from the Office of the Prime Minister. The paper reported standard payment procedures were not followed and described GreenMT CEO Joe Attard as the "contact person" for these payments.
"GreenMT was also under investigation at this time for allegedly collecting recyclable waste from areas serviced by other companies, between July and December 2009. The company claimed that the government had charged it with handling 27 localities that had not registered for any such service," l-Orizzont reported.
Testifying in court over the investigation, MEPA financial controller Kevin Portelli explained the payments in question originated from a special fund. This fund is made up of moneys collected as fines from entities that do not conform to MEPA rules - the very thing GreenMT was being accused of.
This fund was the source of at least three payments GreenMT received.
According to Victor DeBrincat, secretary of the administrative board of the fund, these payments were not brought to the board's attention.
The court case continues.