Politically-appointed WasteServ CEO Richard Bilocca has taken his financial controller at the waste agency to another government body that is expected to green-light multimillion-euro projects to turn government-owned sports facilities into private commercial entities.
In his capacity at WasteServ, Bilocca is currently overseeing an already compromised €400 million tender for the waste-to-energy incinerator in Maghtab.
The Shift is informed that following Bilocca’s appointment as the new chairman of the government’s Commercial Sports Facilities Commission, WasteServ Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Scerri also received a parallel appointment from Education Minister Clifton Grima.
Described as “buddies”, sources at WasteServ told The Shift that Bilocca and Scerri are close “and usually work in tandem”.
In addition to serving as WasteServ’s CEO with a financial package of over €95,000 a year, Bilocca, who has no qualifications in waste or management, was appointed last March to also chair the Commercial Sports Facilities Commission, where he is being paid another €20,000 a year.
On his suggestion, Grima also appointed WasteServe’s CFO to the same board, where he is being paid an extra €8,000 a year to assist Bilocca in his endeavours.
Jonathan Scerri
This is not the first time the pair have crossed paths in their professional lives.
Bilocca and Scerri had already worked closely together at the Water Services Corporation where Bilocca was CEO and Scerri was the procurement manager responsible for the agency’s multimillion-euro purchases and direct orders.
When Bilocca moved to WasteServ in 2020, Scerri followed a few weeks later and was appointed as CFO.
The Commercial Sports Facilities Commission’s work has so far left much to be desired.
Established six years ago following plans to allow sports organisations, particularly football clubs, to turn their public facilities into commercial facilities, the process has not moved an inch and not even a single application has been approved yet.
The minister has so far not explained exactly why the process has been bogged down, although he has admitted the work involved has proven to be extremely bureaucratic.
Finance Minister Caruana will soon learn that the incinerator will be the real fireplace because to operate it will cost much more than the return of electricity it will produce. It will gobble Euros in the hundreds of thousands per year to keep it going. Other counties like Malaysia scrapped already signed contract when they realised the running costs and the enormous environmental damage it causes.