Architect Edwin Mintoff, nephew of former Labour Prime Minister Dom Mintoff and closely connected to the ruling administration, will be getting a €1 million direct contract from Energy Minister Miriam Dalli to transform a dilapidated car park in Bormla into a new greenwashing project.

Forming part of the public property given by disgraced former prime minister Joseph Muscat to the beleaguered American University of Malta and earmarked for the building of the University’s dormitory, the area will instead be turned into an underground car park with a garden on top for the use of the community by Project Green.

Prime Minister Robert Abela ordered the reversal of the projected use of the public land following protests and uproar, including from Labour MP Glenn Bedingfield.

Public procurement rules oblige the government to issue a tender, but this was not done. Instead, the architectural services needed for this project, costing more than €1 million, will be handed to Mintoff through a direct order.

No explanation was given as to why the CEO of Project Green, the disgraced former MFSA boss Joseph Cuschieri, on the issue of such a massive direct order.

Cuschieri is already renowned for his transgression of financial regulations and was caught breaching procurement rules when at the financial regulator.

He was forced to resign in 2021 after breaching ethics when taking a trip with his friend Edwina Licari to Las Vegas, paid for by Yorgen Fenech.

His disregard for rules also led to a €400,000 compensation to a top MFSA official he had sacked.

Joseph Cuschieri showing designs to Minister Miriam Dalli.

The Shift is informed that Mintoff was the architect designing the AUM dormitory when the project was shelved.

“It seems that through the government’s decision not to allow the AUM to build the dormitory, Edwin Mintoff lost significant fees. This was somehow resolved through the €1 million direct order by Cuschieri,” Project Green officials told The Shift.

The long-coming Bormla project, which includes a meditation zone a few metres away from the industrial Palumbo shipyard, was announced in mid-2023. However, it is still at a complete standstill.

Like many other projects announced by Project Green and Minister Dalli, the Bormla project was left on the drawing board for almost 18 months, with progress on its actual delivery still severely behind schedule.

So far, Project Green, which has been given a €700 million budget to green Malta in five years, has delivered next to nothing, except a few small gardens, which in most cases had already existed and were given a revamp and some trees.

In the meantime, CEO Cuschieri is spending millions on recruiting friends and acquaintances at his new government agency.