BWSC 'masters at getting things done their way' - Bartolo

Labour MP Evarist Bartolo said in parliament today that while the culprit had not been caught yet, it was very clear that there was corruption in the power station tendering process.

Speaking in Parliament, Mr Bartolo hit out at the local representative of BWSC, the Danish company which was awarded the contract and who, he said, had boasted that he had high level contacts in Enemalta and the political field. Mr Mizzi used to go to Enemalta so often, he said, that no one continued to ask for his identity, Mr Bartolo said.

Mr Mizzi used to go to speak to a senior official who was present Parliament for this sitting, but had not been seriously questioned, Mr Bartolo said.

But, Mr Bartolo said, he was also of the view that Mr Mizzi was only the small fish in all this and a bigger fish was involved.

The Labour MP also hit out at the chairman of Enemalta , Alex Tranter, saying did not believe his statements and was not fooled by his claim that he did not know about the involvement of his employer Zaren Vassallo at an early stage of proceedings.

As for the Director of Contracts, Mr Bartolo said it was shameful, after all this and after the S&R Handaq debacle, that his contract was being renewed when he should have been shown the door.

The power station contract published today, Mr Bartolo said, omitted the list of sub-contractors, including many foreign companies which were being sued for corruption. He sometimes wondered why, when this tender was issued, the government had not said "only corrupt companies need apply".

Malta's name had been smeared with some of the most corrupt companies. There was no hard evidence of corruption in this contract, the auditor had said, but Mr Bartolo added, there were suspicions that were bigger than the Luqa monument.

It was shameful, Mr Bartolo said, how the contract goalposts had been repeatedly moved to accommodate BWSC. For example, the government had wanted a gas-firing plant, and ended up with one using heavy fuel. The environment/emission thresholds were so unsuitable for BWSC, that the government was made to change them.

BWSC were so good at getting things done their way, that had they been the Malta football team, they would even have found ways and means to win the world cup.

Mr Bartolo said that even unsigned e-mails which originated from BWSC showed that the power station plant selected by Malta was unsuitable because it was unreliable, entailed high maintenance costs, and had a short lifespan. It was no wonder that the maintenance agreement would be limited to five years.

Connections could be found throughout the tendering process and it was no wonder that the auditor could not find people who could cooperate, Mr Bartolo said. Even within a lawyers' office there were lawyers who worked for Mr Mizzi and used to work for Enemalta and others who worked for BWSC.

But not only was there a network of friends who made no distinction between private and professional interests, but there was also a climate of fear, with some people fearful of openly disclosing what they knew. Among them was an engineer who told him that as early as 2005, he was told that the decision had been taken on who would win the contract.

It was no surprise, Mr Bartolo said, that the EU directive which the government had not yet transposed in Maltese law, related to public procurement.

The Labour MP said he agreed with Nationalist MP Franco Debono on the need for a law to regulate political party funding and transparency in this area, so that one would not have corrupt gangs who controlled how decisions were taken.