Records kept by the company that supplied stone blocks to an Italian firm which shaped them to form the cladding of the new Parliament building showed that it never managed to supply the agreed monthly quantity, a court heard this morning.

In addition the stone quality specifications were changed after the quarrying in Qala had started.

The evidence emerged in a case instituted by the supplier, Q-Stone, against Italian firm Filiberti, claiming that the latter owes it about €300,000 for various consignments of material.

Filiberti is claiming that some of the material was of inferior quality.

The Italian firm has separately instituted proceedings against the Maltese government claiming it is owed some €3.5 million for the stone cladding it supplied. The case is being heard before another court.

During today’s sitting before Mr Justice Mark Chetcuti, Q-Stone director Mark Vella testified that his company had been awarded a contract by the Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation on February 14, 2011.

However, lawyer Franco Galea who appeared on behalf of the Italian firm, pointed out that according to the Malta Financial Services Authority, Q-Stone had been registered four days later on February 18.

Asked for an explanation, Mr Vella said that this could have been due to the fact that the documentation took some time to be processed, but he insisted that the company they had been in talks over this contract since the year before. He added that the company was set up specifically for this project, as the quarry owner, Road Construction Limited did not want to be involved with the deliveries to Italy. 

The stone used to be cut in huge blocks at the quarry and Q-Stone would then purchase the required quantities and clean them. It was then up to Filiberti to inspect the stone and make arrangements for the deliveries to their plant in Parma.  The material which was not purchased by the Italian firm used to be sold to third parties.

Asked by Dr Galea if the stone specifications had been altered, Mr Vella said that these had been amended after the quarrying had started.

Asked to substantiate his claim, he said he would be producing the relevant documentation in the next sitting.

As for the quality testing, Mr Vella said that this used to be carried out by a third party – Terracore Limited on behalf of Q-Stone. 

The defence, however exhibited a document showing that no test results had been handed to GHRC before April 2015, and only after GHRC demanded them from Q-Stone.

During cross examination, Dr Galea made reference to the audited accounts of Q-Stone Limited saying that the figures did not tally with the amounts on which the company was suing Filiberti.

The company director said he was not in a position to give an explanation, but insisted that each invoice was issued against the volume of stone purchased by Filiberti, at a standard rate per cubic meter. He added that the purchase orders used to be issued after being verified by a representative of the Italian firm.

Dr Galea then made reference to documents presented in court by Q-Stone which listed the amounts of stone supplied per month during the project. He pointed out that throughout, the company had failed to meet the monthly quota established in the contract.

Mr Vella promptly replied that that it was up to the Italian firm to make arrangements for the delivery. No truck sent by Filiberti has ever left empty, he added.  

Lawyers Franco Galea, Lucio Sciriha and Andrew Grima are appearing for CFF Filiberti whilst Maxilene Pace is appearing on behalf of Q-Stone Ltd. The case continues on March 21. 

 

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