Transport Malta will be forking out almost €19 million over the next 10 years to lease a Lija building where its head office and a number of directorates will be housed, the Times of Malta has been told.

Transport Malta’s executive chairman, James Piscopo, is expected to sign a contract with Sudvel Ltd, a subsidiary of the Ħal Mann Vella Group, in the coming days, sources said.

According to the request for proposals, the offices should be completed and ready to move into by July next year, however, the sources added, work on the building, which would house more than 350 employees, was still at the excavation and foundation-laying stage.

A Transport Malta spokesman confirmed, when asked, that the regulator was concluding a contract with Sudvel Ltd following the selection process. The three bidders, which included Easysell (Kia) Malta Ltd and the Corinthia Group, were informed of the outcome and no appeals were filed, he noted.

The three bidders were informed of the outcome and no appeals were filed

According to the sources, Sudvel Ltd did not submit the cheapest bid.

Asked for details on the new offices, including the address, the spokesman would only say that “details are still to be finalised”.

The Times of Malta was told the site was located behind the Ħal Mann showroom, near the new Pama complex, on the way to Mosta. An onsite visit by this newspaper this week revealed what is virtually a building site in its early stages. Only excavation works and a number of concrete piles could be seen. The building will also be partly used for retail purposes by commercial entities.

An architect said it would be difficult for Transport Malta to use its premises by next July, as stipulated in the request for proposals.

Transport Malta needs to move out of its present headquarters in Marsa, which has been leased to the EU’s asylum agency.

The leasing of new office space for the transport regulator is the second since the change of administration in 2013. Shortly after Labour was returned to power, Transport Malta signed a deal with the General Workers’ Union to move part of its operations to the A3 Towers, in Paola, opposite the Addolorata Cemetery. Transport Malta is paying the GWU over €500,000 a year.

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