Audit report shows tail wagged the dog at Wasteserv

Environment Minister Leo Brincat told parliament this morning that an independent audit report has found serious shortcomings of governance in Wasteserv. In a statement to Parliament, Mr Brincat said the most serious shortcoming was that a majority of the workers were not actually employed by Wasteserv but by a contractor, JF Security. Only a quarter of the 400 employees were actually Wasteserv employees. This applied even to sensitive areas, with up to 80 per cent of the workers in the finance department actually employed by a contractor. It looked, Mr Brincat said, that the contractor was running Wasteserv and not the other way around. Mr Brincat said the company was also seriously lacking in strategic, business and operational planning as well as other areas such as health and safety. There was a lack of communication between the board and the senior management, but senior managers over six years were given bonuses exceeding €250,000 for reasons which had not been defined. Former Minister Goerge Pullicino in an initial reaction noted that the company which had prepared this report had not even spoken to the former chairman and directors. He said the new directors had even...