Direct orders treble cleaning bill at home for elderly

Cleaning services at St Vincent de Paul Complex, in Luqa, cost three times the amount projected in 2011, the Times of Malta is informed. A three-year competitive tender issued in 2011 had put the cleaning bill at the government’s old people’s residence at €3.2 million. However, the government has admitted it forked out three times that amount between 2015 and last year, paying a Naxxar firm, selected through a direct order, more than €9 million. Details of the payments to X-Clean Ltd, show that company owner Denis Xuereb, of Naxxar received payments exceeding €9.5 million between April 2015 and last month. The information was given in Parliament by Family Affairs Minister Michael Falzon in reply to a written question tabled by Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi. Initially, Mr Xuereb started billing the government slightly over €120,000 a month for his company’s services at the old people’s residence. However, the monthly bills kept rising, exceeding €300,000 a month by the end of last year. All payments were approved by the old people’s home management. When the three-year contract, issued in 2011 after a call for tenders, expired X-Clean Ltd was allocated a direct order, which was...