PBS ordered to publish details of extravagant Eurovision costs

The state broadcaster (PBS) has been ordered to publish details of how it spent some €1.6 million earlier this year to refurbish a TV studio used for the Malta European Song Contest.

The decision was taken by the Information and Data Protection Commissioner (IDPC) following a challenge by The Shift, which requested transparency and accountability on how PBS used public funds.

Led by the now-sacked CEO Mark Sammut and backed by Minister Owen Bonnici, PBS decided to abandon the decades-old popular song contest format and instead hold it in one of its unused TV studios without any audience participation.

Since the studio chosen to hold the contest had been abandoned by PBS for years, Sammut decided to spend some €1.6 million to refurbish it through public funds and equip it with the latest technology.

PBS refused to provide details when asked by The Shift in a Freedom of Information request for a list of contracts issued, their value and how the beneficiaries were selected.

Minister Owen Bonnici did the same when PN MP Claudette Buttigieg questioned the event in Parliament. He said the information was “commercial sensitive”.

The Shift asked the IDPC to investigate PBS over a breach of the Freedom of Information Act.

Upholding The Shift’s request, the Commissioner said that PBS was obliged, as a public entity, to publish the information.

He ordered the state broadcaster to supply the information requested.

The Commissioner stressed that this wasn’t the first time PBS has tried to argue that it was not obliged to furnish the information as it was a commercial entity.

He quoted two other instances in which the Court rubbished PBS’ arguments and declared that, like any other government entity, the state broadcaster was duty-bound to be accountable and transparent.

Despite the expenditure, PBS was harshly criticised for its “poor and amateurish show production”.

Following last June’s MEP elections, Sammut was shown the door by Prime Minister Robert Abela, even though he was responsible for his appointment.