Malta’s Environment Ministry has issued over €1.3 million in direct orders during the first nine months of 2019 alone.

Recent figures tabled by Minister Jose Herrera following a parliamentary question from Jason Azzopardi revealed the extent of the ministry’s spending.

Usually, any payment over €10,000 should be issued through a tendering process. However, there are rules for the Minister responsible to bypass the procedure, however, this should not exceed a €135,000 limit.

Only one of the direct orders was close to the €135,000 mark, with the Ministry dishing out €130,000 to Abela Advocates, headed by former President George Abela and Labour MP Robert Abela.

While none actually breach the mark, the million euro spend in direct orders should raise eyebrows.

Just last year, parliamentary questions showed that Herrera had awarded over €11 million for three direct orders related to waste management between 2016 and 2017.

The case was not unique, with the Health Ministry’s €7 million direct order outlay and the Education Ministry’s €5 million direct order spend on a shooting range.