Education Minister Evarist Bartolo, currently in the heart of a storm over payments made through the Foundation for Tomorrow's Schools, said today that he would not bow to political bullying and he would continue to work against corruption.
Speaking in Parliament, Mr Bartolo said he would not be disheartened by the current PN campaign of political assassination against him.
He was not a member of any network of powerful people who defended each other when problems cropped up, but he was confident of the personal respect he enjoyed from people of different political views who knew that he regarded politics as a public service, he said.
In 25 years in parliament he had always worked against corruption and better governance.
Everyone made mistakes, but he had worked for the introduction of the Whistleblower Act, the Party Financing Act and the law on standards in public life.
From the opposition he had given his contribution for the enactment of the Freedom of Information Act and the setting up of the Office of the Ombudsman.
The minister said that when the current government took office in 2013, it found the Foundation for Tomorrow's Schools in financial shambles, with debts of over 60 million euro and more millions in unpaid bills. The foundation could not even service its debt.
There were also huge problems about how the foundation awarded its contracts and issues of value for money.
The minister explained how in 2011 the foundation awarded Avantgarde Ltd a contract for works at Handaq School. Later it requested additional works. Procurement regulations were not followed.
The works were delayed for reasons which were not the company's fault, but they were eventually carried out as requested, and the foundation was billed.
The former government ignored the bill, bequeathing it to the new government.
Mr Bartolo stressed that the new government had a legal responsibility to settle invoices once the work was done, even if the former government had not followed procurement regulations.
He was being accused of having authorised payment for illegal works, yet the illegality - in that procurement procedures were not followed - had happened under the former government, Mr Bartolo said.
The present government had a responsibility to pay for the work once it was carried out. Proceedings against those who did not follow the procurement rules could be taken separately.
The additional works that were billed by Avantgarde, with supporting documents, were estimated by the company at 550,000 euro. The Education Ministry eventually paid just over 400,000 euro and a settlement was reached.
Mr Bartolo said he would have been failing his responsibilities had he ignored the bills, as others had done.