Publish 'secret' contract, Muscat insists

Labour leader Joseph Muscat yesterday called on the government to publish the "secret" contract it signed with Danish company BWSC for the controversial extension of the Delimara power station.

"This was the first contact of its kind to be signed behind closed doors," Dr Muscat said, adding that taxpayers deserved to know what it included because they would pay for it.

The eight points of concern raised by the Labour Party were all confirmed by the Auditor General's investigation, even though there was no "conclusive" evidence of corruption, Dr Muscat said during a political activity in Paola.

He said the investigation and the government's reaction to it confirmed the difference between the two parties when it came to standards in public administration.

The investigation was hampered by the fact that some of the people involved had "forgotten" important details or simply did not cooperate with the Auditor, including the man who earned €4 million in commission, Joseph Mizzi, the agent of BWSC, Dr Muscat said.

He said Enemalta had taken a risky decision by choosing prototype technology and having no proper maintenance agreement and the Auditor was clearly unconvinced of the explanations given to him.

The Auditor also pointed out that the director of contracts was not proactive and that there was no agreement to export the 31 tonnes of dust the power station would produce. It was also unacceptable that environmental laws were relaxed so that one of the companies tendering would not be disqualified, Dr Muscat said.

He criticised the government for playing down Labour's allegations by saying that none of the other companies had appealed the decision. "How could they appeal if they were not even informed that the tender had been given," he asked, quoting the Auditor's report as saying that the other companies were left in the dark.

Dr Muscat said the big difference between the PL and the Nationalist Party was that while Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi saw all this as acceptable, Dr Muscat did not: "Dr Gonzi is defending the indefensible."

He added that those Nationalist MPs who told the press they were "concerned" about the Auditor's report should put their money where their mouths were and use their parliamentary vote.

Dr Muscat said Dr Gonzi was ultimately responsible because he did not look into the contract and stop it while he was still in a position to do so. Instead, he let things be and left the people with a contract that included conditions that did not make sense for the country.

"Government contracts have become synonymous with mismanagement", he said, referring also to the shipyards' Fairmount contract and the verbal brief given to architect Renzo Piano to regenerate the entrance to Valletta.

Dr Muscat said the opposition would announce further actions regarding the Delimara contract at the opportune moment.

He called on supporters to attend the May 1 celebrations on Worker's Day, which will include a walk from Paola to Fgura.

In reaction, the Finance Ministry said all the PL's allegations were false because the Auditor did not find any evidence of corruption. It accused Dr Muscat of putting spokes in the wheels of the Delimara extension, which, as a consequence, would mean higher electricity tariffs.