The audited accounts for last year’s CHOGM and Valletta summits have yet to be tabled in Parliament, over a month after the indicated date of publication.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told PN MP Jason Azzopardi in Parliament last December that the estimated date for the audited accounts being tabled was the end of March.
The end of March came and went, still with no sign of the audited accounts, prompting more questions in Parliament.
Last month Dr Muscat reassured the House that the audited accounts would soon be concluded. The Prime Minister put the delay down to a number of accounts still needing to be presented for audit.
The two summits were held in November.
When the Times of Malta asked former CHOGM head Phyllis Muscat for a copy of the accounts, Ms Muscat said she was no longer employed by the government and all queries had to be channelled through the Prime Mini-ster’s office.
Ms Muscat’s term at CHOGM came to an end on March 25.
The infamous ‘knot’ monument at Castille cost €277,152
A spokesman for the Prime Minister said the accounts would be tabled in Parliament.
Government estimates after the two events put the cost of hosting them at between €10 and €12 million, not including certain preparatory works.
Transport Malta alone spent €11.2 million on infrastructural works ahead of the summits.
The bulk of the expenses, €10,470,000 were used for roadworks, spanning from €1 million on St Paul’s Bay to Għajn Tuffieħa (split in two) and another €1 million on Mġarr to Għajn Tuffieħa, to €42,000 on wall works at Ta’ Qali and Rabat.
Another €642,243.07 was used for line marking and signage. The most expensive line markings, at €46,000, were those at Triq Dun Karm in Birkirkara.
One of the more contentious expenses related to the Valletta summit was the infamous ‘knot’ monument placed outside Castille at a cost of €277,152.
Another was the €100,000 spent on a massive tent at Ħagar Qim, intended to host an official dinner for heads of state during the CHOGM. The activity had to be hosted elsewhere due to bad weather.
The contract to set up the tent went to Tec Ltd, owned by Carmel Magro. Mr Magro was the man behind the “works for favours” controversy involving former Nationalist Party minister Tonio Fenech some six years ago.
The Sunday Times of Malta revealed last month that after the election Mr Magro’s company benefited from government contracts worth well over €1 million. Half were direct orders for national events, as well as events organised by the Office of the Prime Minister.
The government took solace in the fact that the two summits had more than paid for themselves in terms of global media coverage.
A study commissioned by the government and carried out by advertising agency by M&C Saatchi found that if the media exposure for the two summits were to be quantified, it would reach the equivalent of €548.9 million in advertising costs.
jacob.borg@timesofmalta.com