Economy Minister Chris Cardona ordered the dissolution of the Privatisation Unit’s technical committee halfway through the evaluation of two bids for a 10-year casino licence concession.
This was revealed in court yesterday by Privatisation Unit chairman Manuel Camilleri who said Dr Cardona had ordered him to dissolve the committee, given concerns about conflicts of interest.
He was testifying in a case filed by Dragonara Gaming Ltd to stop the concession from being given to Eden Leisure Group, who was chosen as the preferred bidder.
He ordered me to dissolve the committee. This is what I did
Dr Camilleri said that, after the technical committee was given presentations by the two shortlisted bidders, he received a phone call from Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis who asked him whether everything possible was being done to avoid any possible conflicts of interest among the four members of the committee. At that stage, Dr Camilleri asked all committee members, including chairman Judge Geoffrey Valenzia, to sign a declaration denying any conflicts of interest.
“However, I received a phone call from Economy Minister Chris Cardona who said he was still worried about conflicts of interest and ordered me to dissolve the committee. This is what I did,” Dr Camilleri said.
Asked whether he had eventually established any conflicts of interest by the members, he said he did not know of any.
Lawyer Henri Mizzi, appearing for Dragonara Gaming, questioned the minister’s intervention, deeming it very odd. He asked who had spoken to the minister about the workings of the committee, noting it was also odd that the bidders had been kept in the dark about the dissolution.
Asked by Mr Justice Joseph Micallef to comment, Attorney General Peter Grech said the minister had the right to ensure the process under his watch was conducted properly.
Dragonara Gaming, which placed second in the bidding process, is contesting the decision to have Eden Leisure as preferred bidder. Dragonara’s upfront bid exceeded Eden’s by €3 million.
Dr Camilleri defended the Privatisation Unit’s decision, stating that a comparative analysis of the two proposals had revealed that, in the long term, Eden Leisure’s would generate more revenue for the government than that submitted by Dragonara.
Asked whether the Privatisation Unit had used a weighting system to reach its conclusion, Dr Camilleri said it had not because that would not have been fair. Instead, the unit had made a comparative economic analysis of the two proposals.
Both the Privatisation Unit and the government have refuted allegations that the process was vitiated and lacked transparency. They argue that the only reason for Dragonara’s case is to prevent competition in the sector. Dragonara already operates a casino in St Julian’s and Eden Leisure wants to open a new one at the Intercontinental Hotel in the same locality.