Sliema mayor tells IAID that Borg Olivier told him which firm to choose for €1.2m tender

PN secretary-general Paul Borg Olivier has denied allegations by Sliema mayor Nikki Dimech, that he directed him which company to appoint for waste recovery services at the Sliema council.

Details have emerged of how Paul Borg Olivier directed Sliema mayor Nikki Dimech to tell councillors to choose a company – Green MT – to provide the council with waste recovery services.

Dimech has told the Internal Audit Investigations Department, which was running an inquiry into alleged financial mismanagement inside the Sliema council, that Borg Olivier directed him to choose Green MT: a company owned by the GRTU (Chamber of SMEs).

Dimech told the IAID that Borg Olivier called him 15 minutes before the start of a council meeting, instructing him to choose Green MT for the €1.2 million tender.

In a reaction later yesterday evening, Borg Olivier said the allegations were unfounded and that he would take legal action against Dimech. Borg Olivier has also sued MaltaToday on two separate news items dealing with the Sliema electoral district.

Minutes of a meeting held at the Sliema council on 20 January, 2010 shows that representatives of both Green MT and another waste recovery company Greenpak, presented councillors with details of their offers.

Dimech then followed Borg Olivier’s directive by proposing that the council choose Green MT, and was seconded by Labour councillor Martin Debono, and the four councillors present – Yves Cali, Edward Cuschieri, Julian Galea and Patrick Pace – voted in favour.

Dimech also told the IAID inquiry that a former executive secretary, Althea Borg, signed the waste recovery contract with the GRTU director-general Vince Farrugia, without Dimech's approval. This meant the contract was never officially approved by the mayor.

Borg Olivier has not denied having held conversations with Dimech on the subject, before the contract decision was taken.

MaltaToday asked Borg Olivier to comment on the conversations he held with Sliema councillors before the meeting to decide on the tender issued to Green MT, and of any conversation he had with Vince Farrugia on the same tender.

The secretary-general replied: “There is no tender that has been issued to Green MT by the Sliema local council. Hence, your questions are speculative.”

Borg Olivier is aware that the tender was never signed, because Dimech had complained to him that he had not been present during the contract's signing.

Dimech’s claims to the IAID, a unit inside the Office of the Prime Minister, may offer clues into Green MT’s considerable economic activity in Nationalist-led councils, and what degree of influence Paul Borg Olivier holds on commercial decisions inside these same councils.

Yesterday Borg Olivier said the allegations are an attempt to intimidate and tarnish the PN after Dimech was expelled from the party for admitting to police that he asked for commissions in a tender award.

"Dimech has lost all political credibility based on his actions that totally lack correctness, ethicality and honesty, and this apart from the fact he is also being investigated by the IAID on allegations related to a breach of financial rules in the award of a tender on fairy lights and other direct orders," Borg Olivier said.

"No allegation or mud-slinging will stop the PN from its commitment to correct behaviour in politics."

Nikki Dimech is the first independent mayor of Sliema now that he has presented his formal letter of resignation to the PN, along with that of councillor Sandra Camilleri.

Dimech last week was ‘expelled’ from the Nationalist Party. In a statement the PN said that Dimech was informed his position was “untenable” and a resignation was expected.

According to earlier MaltaToday reports, Dimech was expected to be charged over bribery after filing an admission of guilt to Police Inspector Angelo Gafà of the Economic Crimes Unit. During interrogation, 31 year-old Dimech reportedly admitted he asked a council contractor for commission, but he claimed with MaltaToday that he signed the admission “under duress”.

Sandra Camilleri will be resigning after PN secretary-general Borg Olivier coerced the PN councillor into signing a declaration “against her will” to oust Nikki Dimech as Sliema mayor and nominate Johanna Gonzi instead.