Company accepts mistake, contract, after quoting Gamma Unit cost as €0

An Italian company had to recognise its mistake and accept a government contract after it mistakenly submitted a price of €0 in a call for tenders for the supply of a Gamma Unit to Mater Dei Hospital, Social Policy Minister John Dalli said in Parliament.

"Although it was clear that this was a mistake by the company, they had no choice but to accept their mistake and their offer had to be accepted by the government," Mr Dalli said.

He said that the hospital's second Gamma Unit was co-financed by the International Atomic Energy Agency and Malta paid $187,586, which was 43 per cent of the cost. This unit also included a treadmill for stress testing, ECG Gating equipment and provision of experts.

Maintenance of all equipment at the hospital's Medical Imaging Department costs €1,130,505 per year.