Bedingfield: details on recruitment of government cleaners ‘sensitive’

Parliamentary Secretary responsible for cleansing, Glenn Bedingfield, is refusing to give details about the hundreds of workers employed with the government’s Cleansing and Maintenance Division (CMD), insisting that the information requested by The Shift is “sensitive”.

Bedingfield also refused to provide details on contracts and direct orders issued by the department to private recruitment and outsourcing companies supplying additional manpower, despite a significant increase in the number of full-time government cleaners over the past two years.

The refusal came in reply to a series of Freedom of Information requests filed by The Shift seeking basic data on the department’s workforce since Bedingfield assumed political responsibility for the sector.

The requests asked for the number of workers employed by the department, their localities of residence, and a list of contracts and direct orders issued to private human resources firms supplying labour to the division.

Instead of providing the information, Bedingfield argued that replying to the requests was impossible and described the information sought as “sensitive”.

The Shift has now requested an investigation by the Commissioner responsible for enforcing the Freedom of Information Act over what it described as the parliamentary secretary’s disregard for transparency obligations.

The requests were filed following repeated claims that hundreds of workers had been added to the government payroll through the department in recent years, particularly from districts where Bedingfield contests elections.

According to several sources who spoke to The Shift, many recent recruits originate from the Cottonera area, including Bormla, Isla and Birgu.

Multiple long-serving employees within the department described the situation as “worrying”, alleging that many recently recruited workers perform minimal duties or fail to report for work altogether.

“In many instances, those being employed do not ever turn up for work, and no one bats an eyelid,” one veteran employee said.

Another employee claimed that workers are often recruited after approaching Bedingfield directly and are informally told they only need to work a few hours each week.

“In Cottonera, this type of government job is considered easy work and very popular,” another employee added.

The allegations echo longstanding criticism levelled at operational government departments, including cleansing and maintenance entities, over claims of political patronage and “skiving” within parts of the public sector.

At the same time, public procurement records show that the Cleansing and Maintenance Division continues to rely heavily on outsourced labour despite the growing number of government-employed cleaners.

One tender issued by the division, CT2165/2024, sought a framework agreement for “personnel to perform cleaning-related services in different localities in Malta” through private contractors.

Industry sources told The Shift that many workers supplied through outsourcing arrangements are third-country nationals, primarily from African and Asian countries, employed on low wages to carry out labour-intensive cleaning work across Malta.

The situation has raised questions about why the department continues issuing multi-million euro outsourcing tenders while simultaneously expanding its direct government payroll.