Government issuing tenders for EU-funded projects

The Government is awaiting the go-ahead from Brussels to issue tenders for a number of EU-funded projects which will start in 2007, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday.

During a discussion in Valletta yesterday, which saw Dr Gonzi and Opposition Leader Alfred Sant discuss how the country could make the best use of the €855 million - €50 million more than originally announced - which will be made available to Malta between 2007 and 2013, the Prime Minister said tenders for most projects that had been identified by the government were being finalised by the different ministries, indicating that approval from the European Commission is expected in the coming weeks.

The discussion, which lasted more than an hour, was followed attentively by most members of the public visiting stands at the EU fair on Freedom Square. Those who later put questions to the two leaders expressed amazement on hearing Dr Sant and Dr Gonzi agree a number of times during the debate.

Both party leaders argued that the country needs to empower nongovernmental organisations and individuals who want to tap EU funds because this was a lengthy and bureaucratic process that was extremely complex.

On a government level, Malta could benefit from experience in tapping EU funds in the past, and even in implementing the Italian protocol funds.

But it was a fact that private organisations and individuals who had money and administrative capacity had an advantage over small organisation or individuals who need only a few funds, the leaders agreed.

Dr Gonzi said the government should help NGOs by empowering and not spoonfeeding them, pointing out the laudable achievements by, for example, small local councils such as Nadur and San Lawrenz, which had successfully tapped EU funds on their own merit.

Of the ten new EU member states which joined in 2004, Malta had been the most successful in tapping European Regional Development Funds that were unused by other countries. The country had also committed the largest number of programmes falling within the Cohesion Funds, having made the greatest progress in implementing these projects.

Dr Sant said there were two crucial aspects that had to be considered: the timing of when the EU funds for a particular project arrive to Malta and the country's capacity to absorb the funds.

The country, he said, needs to set out a technical strategy of how the funds will be spent over the entire period, especially because each project takes years to materialise when considering the selection, approval, tendering and implementation processes.

The Opposition Leader said that, if returned to power, the MLP would continue the projects started by the PN government.

Even though a Labour government could identify new projects for EU funding, it would not make sense to cancel a project started by the PN government, as this would disturb the way financial resources are allocated, unnecessarily lengthening the process with which Malta could benefit from those funds.

Citing the Sant'Antnin waste recycling plant, Dr Sant said it would not make sense to go back on it once the PN government would have kicked it off, but an MLP government could tap EU funds for recycling plants in other regions. To this Dr Gonzi replied that the Sant'Antnin plant would not take all the islands' waste, emphasising the government's belief that another plant is needed.

Fr Joe Borg, who chaired the discussion, asked whether the decision on how EU funds are spent is influenced by the fact that an election was in the pipeline, which meant that the government would want to see crucial projects coming to fruition to win electoral brownie points. Since the government's decisions today would be implemented over a period of three or four years, a successive government could claim merit for projects started by this administration.

Dr Gonzi said politicians do not project policies in terms of election, even if people thought differently. "We do not decide on programmes because an election is on the way. We take decisions responsibly because these are important projects which will make a big difference to our country," he said.

Half-jokingly, Dr Sant said that if the government was deciding on projects in terms of the election, it was doing wrong calculations as most projects started today would not come to an end before 2008. He said the county needs to lay down a strategic plan above partisan differences.

The leaders claimed that when it came to implementing projects, a major obstacle was the tendering process because bidders who lose contracts often file appeals and start judicial proceedings, effectively slowing the process. This called for a pragmatic solution to improve transparency so that tendering processes do not jam important projects, they said.