Updated: Only six venues at risk in Notte Bianca

Six venues are at risk of not being set up for Saturday's Notte Bianca in Valletta but the organisers are looking into the possibility of relocating the bands and artists, who are all Maltese.

The Court yesterday granted a provisional warrant of prohibitory injunction over a tender for lighting and sound, the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts and the director of contracts filed their reply this morning and a decision is due on Friday.

In the reply, the director of contracts said the tender in question was a departmental one and as such he was not involved in its award.

MCCA chairman Adrian Mamo said that the companies which had requested the warrant of prohibitory injunction had until September 14 to submit questions and request clarifications but they failed to do so.

These companies accepted the clause that incomplete information could result in their exclusion from the contract. They had been requested to file separate quotations but instead filed an umbrella one. As a result the adjudication board was not in a position to evaluate their application.

They also failed to appoint a leader to work on their behalf and to submit other documents which had been requested.

Organiser Peter Busuttil told a news conference this afternoon that the event, which included 83 venues, would go ahead as planned.

He said that if the Court's decision on Friday allowed the events at the six venues in question to proceed, the organisers would check out the stages in the morning. However, the musicians were informed of the possibility that their performance might not be able to take place. Efforts to relocate the shows were being made in the meantime.