PL asks government to treat BWSC case seriously

The government's has been urged by the Labour Party to treat the case of BWSC, the company which has been given the new power station contract, seriously.

The PL said in a statement that the government’s letters to the company reflected the government's panic and was an attempt to mitigate the importance of the corruption claims against the company.

Labour leader Joseph Muscat yesterday presented the auditor general with investigations carried out by a Danish newspaper which concluded that the company had used bribery to win contracts abroad.

Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt wrote to the company requesting it to explain the situation to the Auditor General. The company this morning replied denying the claims.

The PL said in its statement that Dr Gatt's letter was sent to Sorem Barkholt, who was directly implicated in the said cases and named as the person who approved the payment of a commission to an authority chairman in the Philippines.

In their reply, the company, BWSC, did not make any statements on how the tender in Malta had been won even though serious allegations had been made for months

These included statements in writing that their agent in Malta had boasted he had connections with senior people in politics and at Enemalta which would help the company win the contract. These documents had already been presented to the Auditor General.

The PL said that an internal BWSC investigation had shown there had been cases of corruption before the year 2000. New cases were discovered later and the whistle blower was dismissed.

The investigations by the Danish police did not exonerate the company from the corruption claims, the PL said adding that in its letter this morning, the company did not refer to the worrying cases involving millions in which Mitsui, its mother company, had been involved and for which people had ended up in prison.

The company’s chairman, the PL said, did not confirm that the company was not involved in corruption saying his company was too big.