At least 10 per cent of EU funds dedicated to the restoration of Gozo’s Citadel have been lost from the project.
This was due to the government failing to complete the project and spend the funds on time, this newspaper has learnt.
The project, planned in 2011 with a budget of €14.5 million, had to be completed by the end of last year in order to qualify for the full amount of EU funding.
The EU was meant to fork out 85 per cent, or €11.6 million, of the project’s budget. However, by the end of last year the government had only managed to use up €10.5 million of this amount – signifying a loss of €1.1 million in EU funding.
The project was originally scheduled to have been completed by June 2015. However, delays in starting, compounded with the discovery of archaeological remains during works, led to the completion being postponed several times.
Although at an advanced stage, the works were still underway yesterday. The full cost of any restoration works that remain will now have to be forked out by the Maltese taxpayer.
A spokesman for the ministry yesterday admitted that works on the Cittadella had still not been completed, although he said “most components” were.
The ministry however denied that the unspent funds had been lost, insisting that: “The allocated €1.1 million of EU funds were reverted back to the programme and used on other projects.”
When pressed, the Gozo Ministry did not specify what this programme was or which projects the funds were directed to.
Justifying the delays, the spokesman said the works had “encountered a large number of archaeological findings which had to be properly excavated, recorded and in some instances incorporated in the project design to remain visible”.
Asked to state how much of the €11.6 million of EU funds dedicated to the project were actually spent by the deadline, the spokesman gave the figure of €10.5 million.
The project includes a new entrance, restoration of facades and historical buildings, a visitor’s centre and new infrastructure.
Malta was allocated over €1bn of EU funds
Replying to a parliamentary question by PN shadow Minster Chris Said in November 2014, Gozo Minster Anton Refalo had reported extensive progress on the project and said it would be completed by June 2015 the latest.
Malta risks losing several more millions in EU funds owing to non-completion of projects by the deadline, this newspaper is informed.
Last week, a spokesman for Ian Borg, Parliamentary Secretary responsible for EU programmes, said the government was not in a position to give a breakdown of the amount of EU funding absorbed by Malta by the end of last year.
He said the figure would only become known after checks carried out by the EU authorities, expected to be completed by 2017.
Last October, the government admitted it had decided to re-direct some €11 million of EU funds originally earmarked for the Coast Road to other projects after the EU’s Court of Auditors found irregularities in the way some tenders were negotiated.
It later transpired that the European Commission has still to decide on what is to be done with these funds.
Malta was allocated over €1 billion of EU funds for the 2007-2013 financial period. The deadline for the completion of projects under this financial period was last December.
During the 2004-2007 period – the first financial period eligible to Malta since its EU accession – the island managed to make use of 100 per cent of the allocated funds.
PN DEMANDS EXPLANATION
In a statement this afternoon, shadow minister Chris Said said the loss confirmed the government's incompetence in the way it was carrying out EU financed projects.
Dr Said said Gozitans would not only have to make good for the money the government lost but for would also have to wait longer for the Citadella project to be concluded.
This, Dr Said said, was not the first instance in this legislature where government decisions, primarily by Dr Borg, led to Maltese and Gozitan families losing millions from EU funds. The same had happened with the Coast Road project.
Shadow minister Roberta Metsola said Maltese and Gozitan families and businesses were ending up victims of the government's incompetence.
They said the PN expected a clear explanation from Dr Borg and Dr Refalo as to why the funds had been lost and who would be making good for them.
NO FUNDS LOST - PL
In another statement, the Labour Party said the Cittadella project was a certificate of incompetence by the previous administration.
For while the Nationalist Party spent years talking about it, it had to be the Labour government to work on it and successfully finish it.
Malta, the PL said, would not be losing a cent from the funds that were allocated for the Cittadella.
As had been done with the Coast Road project, the government, with the approval of the European Commission opted to be prudent and invest the funds which were at risk of being lost in the environment and education sector, particularly in resources teachers had been requesting for a long time.