Ozo Group, a human resources supply company with majority shareholding held by the Zammit Tabonas, was awarded a €10 million direct order by Wasteserv to continue supplying some 700 low-paid personnel to the agency’s waste treatment facilities.
Details were made public last week in the Government Gazette — coincidentally, just as company director Michael Zammit Tabona appeared on television describing disgraced former prime minister Joseph Muscat as “the best prime minister ever”.
Wasteserv, managed by political appointee Richard Bilocca, had failed to issue the required long term tender on time, necessitating the issuance of a direct order to Ozo, which was already supplying personnel through a previous contract.
Rather than hire its own staff directly, Wasteserv farms out human resources requirements, normally under a three-year contract. Ozo puts the personnel on its books and hires them out to Wasteserv while earning a commission on each worker.
While these administrative and operations workers are paid low wages, the company earns over a million euro a year in commissions.
Ozo is a joint venture between entrepreneur Mario Muscat and the Zammit Tabonas, with the three brothers, Adrian, Julian and Michael of Captain Morgan, sitting on its board of directors. Edward Zammit Tabona, CEO of the Fortina Group, is a shareholder.
Notorious for his close long term ties to the Labour Party, Ozo director Michael Zammit Tabona made a rare appearance on television last week as a guest of Malta Today’s Saviour Balzan. Dismissing the allegations of corruption that dominated Muscat’s tenure as “mostly inventions”, Zammit Tabona told the state-funded current affairs programme that the disgraced former prime minister had turned the economy around and filled Malta with cash.
Muscat had made the Labour Party donor a non-resident ambassador to Finland in 2014, and Zammit Tabona’s family won multiple contracts and concessions during Muscat’s tenure.
Wasteserv issued some €14 million in direct orders to companies and individuals close to the Labour Party in 2021, including €9,000 to TEC Ltd for mobile offices, €9,000 to Cory and Melissa Greenland for consultancy services, €6,000 to Labour’s public relations company Ikona Artworks, and €10,000 to RSM for auditing services.
Ganado Advocates (€10,000), Labour’s One TV (€11,000) and the PN’s Medialink (€18,500) were also on Wasteserv’s direct orders list for 2021.
The original article erroneously referred to Ozo Group as Ozone.
Sleaze and more Sleaze. How in the world did we get off the grey list? How does the EC not audit the way we spend their funds? Worse that any banana republic
Well now he can stop complaining about the feasibility of the Catamaran service to Gozo and back.
Increase the frequencies and not raise prices.
Again, a direct contract worth €10 million to employ cheap labour and making a whacking profit for the shareholders.
Is this another form of worker exploitation?
Where are the unions to defend the working class?
If I am not mistaken the GWU has a similar Company supplying low-paid personnel to Local Councils.
The Zammit Tabonas are political prostitutes, and would sell their souls to anyone, as long as they accumulate wealth, by fair or foul means.
Lauding Joseph Muscat, is no better than adoring Satan.
This is one of a number of business families, who have no principles, and who have turned our once gem of a country, into a cesspit reputation.
May their ill earned wealth, dilute into grains of sand.
So glad that Socialism is producing results for the poor and needy.
Blame the party not socialism. Socialism has been extinct for decades in Malta
Churchill gave the best definition of Socialism – “Socialism: the philosophy of failure, the creed of idiocy, the gospel of envy. Its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery” – Winston Churchill.
HALLELIN ISTHU. tabone ghandu ragun ifahhar lill-akbar pm HALLIEL lli qatt rat Malta. Birds of the same feather flock together.
This WasteServe employee-hiring bit (700 is not just a handful, is it) as well as the GWU-run contract -workers scheme for public projects reminds one of a Roman-style – and even later, to say it all – slave market.
It was those who captured the slaves in the conquered countries – or, later on, in Africa – who made abundant riches on the backs of the unfortunate humans.
Those who bought them (nowadays ‘hired’ them ?) made no lesser fortunes from the forced abundant labour they acquired on the market!
Where is actually the so-called Prime Minister ROBBER Abeba.
Is he now setting a record for running away from the press?
L-isem veru tal-Partit Laburista x’aktarx li jkun il-korruzzjoni u l-faqar tal-Partit għal ħafna.
Dan bis-serjeta!!
The Government’s entities and authorities are PL political clubs with hefty wages for nothing, ready only to accomodate partisan and cheap politics of the Minister in charge. Tal biża!!
Wamo, a fintech company also involves the Zammit Tabonas. No wonder Maltatoday carry out promotion for their friends’ venture.
HAFI, MISKIN!!
Under PN we heard of scandals.Under Labour its institutiinalised Mafia.
Bloody disgrace! And where the heck is the PM? Doesn’t he have anything to say about this sleaze? May all the idiots who elected this government rot in hell for the rest of their days for bringing the nation to its knees like this.
The PM is in it with them. He’s one mega crook, probably worse than his predecessor.