Lawyer alleges favouritism in tribunal tender

The president of the Local Councils Association is claiming that the selection process in the tender for prosecution services at the Birkirkara local tribunal was tainted and unfair.

Ian Micallef, a lawyer by profession and a Nationalist local councillor in Gzira, accuses the Birkirkara Joint Committee, which made the selection, of shifting the goalposts to enable lawyer Richard Sladden to get the job.

Dr Micallef had tendered an offer for the prosecutor services contract issued by the Birkirkara Joint Committee, along with Dr Sladden, Peter Fenech, Francesco Depasquale and Yana Micallef Stafrace. The tribunal encompasses the local councils of Attard, Balzan, Birkirkara, Dingli, Iklin, Lija, Mdina, Mtarfa, Rabat and Sta Venera.

Dr Micallef wrote in protest to Raphael Carabott, authorised officer of the joint committee, saying: "In reality, Dr Sladden's offer was much higher than mine, and even higher than that of the other lawyers. Nevertheless, the board recalculated the rates so that Dr Sladden's offer turned out to be the cheapest bid".

From the minutes of a February 22 joint committee meeting, seen by The Times, it transpires that the lawyers placed offers for four sittings - consisting of up to 120 cases each - in any one day.

Dr Sladden listed a fee for the first three sittings, adding he would not charge for the fourth. According to Dr Micallef, this meant that his fee was lower than that of the other lawyers as the offer was calculated on the basis of an average rate for four sessions.

Dr Micallef said no statistics had been made available to the applicants on how often the tribunal holds four consecutive sessions.

In discussing the contract on February 22, Anthony Dalli, chairman of the joint committee, said that if Dr Sladden was chosen, the committee should make sure it held four sittings "so that money may be saved".

Dr Sladden's offer was unanimously chosen as the best bid.

Dr Micallef said the committee's decision had not been published as required by law. Instead, it was communicated to the bidders through a letter dated February 27, leaving "no time for appeal".

He also protested that the authorised officer had kept the offers evaluation report under wraps when such information was supposed to be public information. He also asked why Mr Carabott had been on the board which awarded the contract when Dr Sladden was his lawyer in other cases.

Contacted by The Times, Mr Carabott said his function was to take the minutes and he insisted he did not in any way participate in any of the board's decisions.

Asked whether Dr Sladden was his personal lawyer, Mr Carabott replied: "That is my personal business".

"Dr Sladden was also the committee's lawyer in the past, but after his contract expired, he had a right to bid like everybody else," he added.

"We have nothing to hide and have already submitted all the relevant documents to the Local Government Department. Meanwhile, the committee's lawyer - not Dr Sladden - is evaluating Dr Micallef's letter and we will reply to him soon. It is too early to reply to the specific charges he made at this stage," Mr Carabott said.

Rabat deputy mayor Doris Coleiro had asked whether Dr Micallef was fit for the job taking into account the fact that he is the president of the Local Councils Association and also a councillor.

The committee referred the issue to the Local Government Department which found there was no breach once Dr Micallef was not a councillor in any of the localities in the Birkirkara joint committee.

Speaking to The Times, Local Government Director Natalino Attard confirmed he had asked for the relevant documentation to check whether the tender award process was above board.

"Obviously, the department does not delve into the merits of the tender because that decision lies with the joint committee which is autonomous," Mr Attard said.

Several attempts to contact Mr Dalli yesterday proved futile.

Dr Sladden said he could not comment at this stage because he is an interested party. "I would be happy to see the whole process go through in a transparent manner," he said, adding he would be in a position to comment later.