ARMS pays €89,000 to Labour MP and Labour Party executive secretary for “legal consultancy services”

The state water and electricity billing agency, Automated Revenue Management Services Ltd (ARMS), is paying €22,000 to Labour MP Luciano Busuttil and €67,000 to the Labour Party’s executive secretary, Lydia Abela, for “legal consultancy services”.

The contracts were given by direct order and not by tender. The direct order to Luciano Busuttil is listed in the current issue of the Government Gazette as having been approved by the ARMS CEO on 16 November last. The direct order to Lydia Abela was approved directly by the Ministry of Finance on 16 September last.

Busuttil also receives a salary, and has a state-funded car and chauffeur, as chairman of the national sports council. His wife, who plays tennis and wears high heels while claiming to be disabled, has a disabled-parking badge on her car and has also been given at job at the Malta Gaming Authority.

Lydia Abela’s husband, Robert, another Labour Party activist and son of the Labour Party’s former deputy leader and head of state, George Abela, receives tens of thousands of euros a year to provide “legal and consultancy services” to the Planning Authority.