Auditor's report on Delimara contract

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech yesterday insisted that the Auditor General's report on the controversial Delimara power station contract found "no irregularities" for which anyone had to shoulder responsibility.

"The auditor did not find any irregularities. What he said was that he found shortcomings which he put on the level of a lack of experience or a lack of coordination," Mr Fenech told The Times when questioned.

"There is no doubt about it. The auditor's report does not indicate Enemalta made the wrong choice or that it should have chosen another company. So I don't think one can talk in terms of there being someone who needs to take responsibility," he said.

Mr Fenech stressed that the Auditor simply made a number of recommendations which the government should now make it a point to take on.

Asked if he should call for a police investigation in light of the Auditor's claims that certain stakeholders did not cooperate with his investigation, Mr Fenech said it was not up to the government to take such action.

"Ask the police. Did you read the report? Then I think the police did too. I don't see why I should give (the report) to them myself. The most important statement is that there was no corruption or irregularities," Mr Fenech said.

He added that one of the men accused of lack of cooperation, Joseph Mizzi - the Maltese agent of the winner of the contract, Danish company BWSC - was a private person, not a government employee.

But even as Mr Fenech was playing down the findings of the report, Enemalta chairman Alex Tranter felt it was too harsh and issued a statement criticising the Auditor General for saying he should have resigned during the tendering process.

Mr Tranter described the Auditor's assertion as "not only gratuitous but also explicitly contrary to the Enemalta Act as well as the Code of Ethics approved by Cabinet".

In the report, the Auditor says Mr Tranter should have resigned because of a conflict of interest, as he also had links with a contractor involved in civil works for one of the bids.

Mr Tranter said he had appointed the Evaluation and Adjudication Committee in line with the prevailing practice, which had been in place for several years. He also kept the ministry informed of the appointments being made and any subsequent amendments.

The appointment of the committee was made before anyone even knew who would express an interest and a full year before the tendering stage.

"I became aware of a 'potential' conflict of interest at around June 23, 2008 and in terms of the Enemalta Act and the Code of Ethics applicable to government directors I reported the said possibility to the board of directors in the first ensuing meeting held on June 26, 2008."

He said the Code of Ethics and the Enemalta Act provided that in cases of conflict of interest the affected director withdraw from any discussion on the matter and does not participate in the decision-making process.

The Auditor's report criticised Enemalta's choice for a combination of prototype technology instead of a tried and tested method as required. It also said the decision to choose Lahmeyer International through a direct order as an independent consultant left much to be desired.

Mr Mizzi used to work with Lahmeyer until December 2007. This company, by its evaluation of the bids, played a pivotal role in keeping BWSC in the running for the contract even though it should have been disqualified under the original tender specifications.

The Auditor said he did not find any "hard evidence" of corruption.