The Labour Party said this evening that somebody had to assume political responsibility for the road construction bribery case, the latest in what it said was a series of corruption cases at Transport Malta.
Earlier today, a Transport Malta architect and a director and an employee of a road-construction company were accused of corruption, with the prosecution alleging that the architect and the director pocketed some €500,000 by inflating bills. Another man involved in the scrap metal business admitted producing false bills which were presented to Transport Malta. (See full story at http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120222/local/two-arraigned-in-road-works-bribery-case.408000 )
Labour leader Joseph Muscat, speaking at a political event in Safi said somebody needed to assume political responsibility for this latest scandal at Transport Malta.
He said this case exposed another racket at the expense of the taxpayer and followed cases of corruption in the granting of vehicle licences, boat licences and attempted bribery during the superyachts facility privatisation process, not to mention the disaster which was the bus service reform, also handled by Transport Malta.
In all such cases, no one assumed political responsibility, Dr Muscat said.
AIR MALTA
The Labour leader also referred to the Air Malta restructuring programme and the report issued yesterday by the European Commission. He said the PL hoped and believed that the government would reach agreement with the Commission, but precious time was being lost because of the mistakes that had been made.
He said that the European Commission in its report had raised a number of points on basic mistakes which one did not expect from whoever was paid €500,000 to guide Air Malta through the reform.
In this case too, somebody had to assume responsibility for what had happened and what had led to all these delays.
Dr Muscat noted that, among other things, the European Commission did not believe a projection that Air Malta's market share would rise by 5.6%.
He noted that when The Times reported that Air Malta would reduce its airport slots and routes, the government issued a prompt denial. Yet, 24 hours later, the EU report said that Air Malta was proposing to reduce profitable routes and airport slots.
This issue, Dr Muscat said, needed to be clarified. Losing slots in important airports would mean losing important assets, and this would endanger tourism and, therefore, the general economy.
It was absurd, Dr Muscat said, that the European Commission had reacted publicly to a document which the government had prepared but not published. The PL was not consulted or informed about it.