When Projects Malta was conceived by the government, it seemed like an idea meant to shortcut the public sector’s bureaucracy and get things done. The aim of the company, registered in April 2014 and formally inaugurated in February last year, was to serve as the vehicle that carried forward public-private partnerships.

It was placed in the remit of Minister without Portfolio Konrad Mizzi, at the time responsible for health and energy, who had taken on the mantra of ‘the doer’ in Joseph Muscat’s Cabinet.

With the Labour government adopting the PPP model to run various public services, Projects Malta was meant to be the fast-track vehicle to make this happen. But now, more than two years since it has been up and running, two of the three multi-million euro projects it has handled are mired in controversy.

Projects Malta was the entity that handled the land concession tender for the site housing the Institute of Tourism Studies. The tender, for tourism-related mixed development, was open for two months and spanned the Christmas holidays, at the end of which only one company submitted a bid – the DB Group that operates the Seabank Hotel. The company was selected preferred bidder and negotiations are under way.

But even as the talks are supposedly still happening, the company is accepting reservation deposits on residential apartments in the as yet phantom project. Does the developer have some kind of an assurance the land will be his?

The mind boggles and this is apart from what appears to be the bidding company’s cheap offer of €6.5 million for the concession. But it beggars belief why this particular tender had to be handled by Projects Malta and not the Privatisation Unit.

There is no public-private partnership arrangement in the ITS tender. It is an outright land transfer for the building of apartments, offices, commercial outlets and a hotel. It is very similar in scope to the White Rocks concession the government is currently evaluating and which is being handled by the Privatisation Unit, as it should be.

It looks awkward to have two entities carrying out the same work but seemingly adopting different standards.

The second project being handled by Projects Malta is the part-privatisation of public health services by transferring St Luke’s Hospital and the Gozo General Hospital to a private consortium.

A preferred bidder was chosen last year and although the Prime Minister of late has been speaking as if the project is about to start, it remains unclear whether a formal agreement with Vitalis Global Healthcare has been signed.

Again, does the company have an assurance it will get the concession?

Doubts have been raised on the financial viability of Vitalis, which cannot be allowed to pass unnoticed. The implications are too serious to ignore, more so when the reform of Malta’s public healthcare system has been pinned to the success of this public-private partnership.

Vitalis has no track record in healthcare, which raises other concerns.

With Projects Malta under the Prime Minister’s wing now, Joseph Muscat would do well to take stock of the situation. He should look into the operations of Projects Malta to date and demand answers to some questions: Has every initiative undertaken by Projects Malta been done in a transparent and diligent manner? Has Project Malta’s fast-track approach sidelined the principles of good governance? Has Project Malta acted all throughout in the best interest of the public? Who pulls the strings at Projects Malta?

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