Contractor warns job applicants ‘must not be of African nationality’

A man hoping to win a tender to operate public toilets in St Paul’s Bay has included a blatantly racist job requirement for a labourer he will hire, if he wins the contract.

Anthony Debono’s job call, which was posted on the website OKMalta.com, states that any labourer keen to work for him “must not be of African nationality”.

However, Debono – who owns the Qormi-based Shanty’s Construction Ltd – insisted that he is not racist, but rather reacting to a racist segment of the population.

“I am not a racist and in fact I employ a lot of Africans with me, but I know that some Maltese people are racist and react badly when they see an African worker,” he told MaltaToday. “If you need to hire a watchman, people will leave dirt on your doorstep if you hire an African worker. What can you do about that?”

Debono insisted that he had no idea that it was illegal for employers to discriminate against people based on their nationality or race.

“I wouldn’t have uploaded it if I had known I was breaking the law, and I’ll remove it if that’s the case,” he said.

He confirmed that the job call was for a tender that he had submitted to the St Paul’s Bay council two weeks ago, arguing that he wanted to have a labourer at the ready if he won the contract. 

St Paul's mayor Graziella Galea said she was surprised to see the advert, noting that the council never issues calls with such requests from bidders. 

"In fact, the local council had issued a call for a handyman and those requirements were surely not part of the requisites," she told MaltaToday. "Now that my attention has been drawn to this particular advert, I will be seeking further information about it."