A freedom of information request for the due diligence reports by the government on the company entrusted to run three public hospitals has been blocked.

The request for the reports was rejected on the basis of an opt-out in the FOI law which prevents the disclosure of certain commercial information.

Questions have been raised about the due diligence process, given the lack of healthcare expertise of Vitals Global Healthcare. The company has a 30-year concession to run the Gozo, Karin Grech and St Luke’s Hospitals.

Vitals has said it will be partnering up with several renowned healthcare service providers and getting all the necessary medical expertise on board.

The Public Accounts Committee will be investigating the contracts, worth more than €1.4 billion over 30 years, following a request by the Medical Association of Malta (MAM) and the Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin (UĦM).

The two unions have also requested an investigation of the contracts by the Auditor General.

Mark Pawley, CEO of Vitals’ mother company Oxley Capital, admitted last month it was the first venture into hospital management by the ‘global’ company.

Vitals Global Healthcare is owned by the Singapore-based company Oxley Capital through a complex structure involving three other companies, two of which are registered in the British Virgin Islands.

The Times of Malta requested the due diligence reports on all these companies.

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil has flagged the fact that former health minister Konrad Mizzi’s financial advisers Nexia BT gave the go-ahead to open an account for the minister’s Panama company just two days after concluding the deal with Vitals.

This newspaper confirmed in November that the government was in talks with the entity awarded the 30-year concession prior to the official tendering process last year.

The company had originally proposed a project that was solely focused on the Gozo hospital.

This proposal was declined by the government, but Vitals later went on to win the concession for the Gozo, Karin Grech and St Luke’s Hospitals.

In October, the government published three contracts linked to the deal ,but the heavily censored documents shed little light on the specifics.

All the key dates and figures contained in the contracts were blanked out.

The MAM and UĦM have questioned Vitals’ ability to raise financing for the project, in which they have promised to invest some €200 million.

Vitals director Ram Tumuluri, who has had to fend off allegations about his past business dealings, said last month that the company had already spent €25 million on the project, including a €10 million bond deposited with the government.

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