The Employment and Training Corporation board yesterday confirmed it had contracted the motoring school implicated in the Malta Transport Authority cash-for-licences scandal, as instructors for heavy vehicles and buses.
In a statement issued yesterday morning, the ETC announced that it had now terminated Swallow Garage's contract.
The matter emerged in Parliament last Wednesday. While debating a motion of no confidence against Roads Minister Jesmond Mugliett, Opposition Leader Alfred Sant revealed that Swallow Garage, which allegedly bribed ADT officials to pass its students their driving test, had been contracted by the ETC despite the call for tenders including a requirement that applicants had no convictions for misconduct.
Dr Sant went a step further, saying that the Swallow Garage officals who had bribed the two ADT employees were also friends of Mr Mugliett and had sometimes provided free transport for activities held by the minister. The claim has not yet been denied by the Mr Mugliett.
In its statement yesterday, the ETC insisted that no minister was involved in the decision. "While the ETC board and management assume full responsibility for their actions, the ETC declares that it acted independently, in good faith, and according to the laws and regulations," the corporation's statement said.
Giving a step-by-step account of how the contract came to be awarded to Swallow Garage, the board explained that Swallow Garage was the only company to submit a bid for two out of three tenders it had issued on May 15.
There had been no other bidders for training related to cranes and forklifts, while the company's bid for bus driving training was about half what the other contender had bid for the same job.
According to the board, Swallow Garage had declared that there was no conviction involving the company in connection with professional misconduct or bribery. On this basis, the board said, it was recommended that Swallow Garage be awarded the contract for the three tenders.
The company was technically correct in saying that there was no conviction in that the case is still ongoing. Yet, the fact that the company was implicated in the ADT bribery scandal has been public for over a year.
Following Dr Sant's comments in Parliament on Wednesday, the ETC board asked the Police Commissioner to provide a situation report. The police are prosecuting in respect to two cases against Swallow Garage in connection with bribery, one initiated in July 2006 and another in February 2007.
The board has now decided that such facts should have been declared or otherwise disclosed by Swallow Garage in the documentation of its offers for the tenders. "The fact itself that the owner of the company was being charged... also with professional misconduct, should have been declared by the company during the tendering process," the ETC's statement said.
"In view of the above, the ETC Board has decided to rescind the contracts awarded to Swallow Garage."
When asked about the matter during a press conference yesterday, the Prime Minister made reference to the statement issued by the ETC, confirming that the contract had been terminated.
However, when asked whether anyone would be shouldering the responsibility for contracting the company, Dr Gonzi dodged the question, saying that the question deviated from the subject of the press conference, which dealt with the pre-Budget document.