Minister defies commissioner’s order to publish contracts to former colleague

Gozo and Planning Minister Clint Camilleri is digging his heels in to hide the direct orders and contracts he gave his former colleague and architect Godwin Agius, whom the minister also appointed to the primary decision-making board of the Planning Authority.

Agius is a former colleague of Camilleri who is already on a €114,000 a year job as chairperson of Interconnect Malta (a government entity controlled by Energy Minister Miriam Dalli).

He also manages to juggle a number of other government jobs while maintaining his private practice, which receives a raft of direct orders from the Gozo and Planning Minister.

The Shift filed a Freedom of Information request for the contracts and payments made to Agius, which the minister denied. An investigation by the Commissioner ordered the publication of the information, which the ministry is defying by filing an appeal before the tribunal.

The ministry argued that if the information were made public, it would prejudice Agius’ commercial interests.

Who is Godwin Agius?

Agius is an architect from Żebbuġ and a Labour Party counting hall agent during the general elections.

He used to work with Clint Camilleri, at the time a junior architect at the firm owned by former Labour minister Charles Buhagiar.

Since 2013, he has been placed on the government’s payroll through an indefinite contract and given multiple jobs, all while conducting his private practice as an architect.

He is paid €114,000 for a full-time job as executive director and chairperson of Interconnect Malta — the government entity responsible for the already late installation of a second interconnector to Sicily.

At the same time, Minister Dalli, who is responsible for his employment, also gave his private practice a €150,000 architectural job for the rehabilitation of an Enemalta installation in Birżebbuġa, better known as il-Pont Tas-Shell.

Agius also works closely with his former colleague, Minister Clint Camilleri.

When Prime Minister Robert Abela assigned the Gozitan minister responsibility for the Planning Authority, Godwin Agius was immediately appointed to its powerful Executive Board.

This board makes all significant decisions, including the ongoing changes to the local plans, such as those for the Villa Rosa project in St George’s Bay and the illegal cluster of residences on ODZ land in Gozo.

According to the Planning Authority, Agius has not been paid for his role on the board.

While fulfilling all these roles, Agius has also received several direct orders from the Gozo ministry for his private practice, including several road works projects.

One of the lucrative direct orders was rebuilding the Nadur road, which went millions over budget and is now the subject of an investigation by the Auditor General.

He is also listed as having another full-time job at the Gozo Regional Development Authority (GRDA) – an ‘independent’ satellite agency unofficially controlled by Minister Camilleri. His role and presence at the GRDA are unclear.

Minister Camilleri is adamant that the information on the contracts and payments to Agius will not be published. When denying The Shift’s request, Minister Camilleri said it could not be met as it fell beyond the scope of the Freedom of Information Act.

This is a highly contested argument that the Information Commissioner has already dismissed.

The tribunal’s decision is expected shortly. If it loses the case at the tribunal, the ministry still has the option to appeal in court.