Of half truths and smokescreens

Last June an MLP delegation travelled to Dubai. The delegation, headed by Labour deputy leader Charles Mangion, consisted of shadow ministers Charles Buhagiar and Leo Brincat, responsible for public works and foreign affairs and IT respectively. They were also joined by Joe Mifsud, the MLP international secretary. The mission of this not-so-low-profile trip, according to the MLP, was to lure investment from Dubai to Malta. The MLP splashed photos of the MLP officials together with press releases-cum-press conference held to market this high flying mission.

Contacts with the outside world are highly commendable and foreign investment is welcome wherever it may come from. What makes this story very interesting is the fact that we were told nothing about the fact four contractors - Dennis Baldacchino of Maghtab Construction Ltd, Patrick Dalli of Pada Ltd, Carmelo Penza of Penza Contractors Ltd and Ray Vella of Raymond Vella Co. Ltd - travelled to Dubai on the very same day, on the very same flight to the very same hotel in Dubai as the political MLP delegation.

No mention was made of them either in the press conference or the press releases and nor did they appear in any of the photos published by the MLP. Why? Was it not of news value? Of course it was.

The eight travelling companions are no strangers and it could not have been a coincidence that the eight of them chose to travel together for the same reason, to attract investment. In fact, some members of the MLP official delegation and the four contractors are closely linked and I'll explain how.

Of the five companies Mr Baldacchino owns, Mr Buhagiar, an architect, and Mr Vella are involved in two of them.

Dr Mangion is partner in one of the 12 companies owned by Mr Dalli (the husband of Labour MP Helena Dalli).

Of the nine companies Mr Vella owns, Mr Buhagiar and Mr Baldacchino are involved in two of them.

As if this were not enough, in April 1998, under a Labour government, Mr Dalli, Mr Baldacchino and Mr Penza, contractor, together with a few other contractors, formed a consortium in order to compete in government calls for public tenders. The secretary of this consortium, Patrick Spiteri, was Alfred Sant's consultant regarding the introduction of the infamous CET.

Furthermore, in 1992, Dr Sant chose Mr Buhagiar as the architect responsible for the new MLP headquarters, Mr Baldacchino's company as contractor responsible for its construction and Mr Vella's company for the water and electricity installation. Incidentally, Mr Vella was also appointed chairman of the Water Services Corporation when Dr Sant was Prime Minister and Mr Buhagiar was Minister for Public Works.

So there is no shadow of a doubt that not only did the eight travellers know each other well but they have also had and still have business connections.

When this matter recently came up on Bondìplus, at first Dr Sant forgot the contractors' names but when the presenter listed them, the MLP leader said he found nothing wrong with the fact that the four businessmen had joined the MLP delegation. He went even further and applauded them for their initiative.

So, if according to Dr Sant, the task at hand was so laudable, why did they travel incognito? Why were they ignored by the MLP media? Why the black-out? Why the veil of secrecy?