Economy Minister Chris Cardona has so far failed to stick to his pledge to name the members of a dissolved technical committee who, he has claimed, had a conflict of interest in the evaluation of bids for a new casino licence.

On November 17 Dr Cardona had said: “Let us wait for the conclusions of the court on this matter. However, I think that in the coming days, when the procedures are over, it will be opportune to release the names.”

The court procedures were initiated by one of the two bidders, Dragonara Gaming Limited, after the government selected the other, Eden Leisure Group, as the preferred bidder to be granted the licence.

Dragonara’s requested an injunction on the deal going through, saying the selection had been a “vitiated and non-transparent process”. But the court rejected the request at the end of last month, saying the legal requirements for such a prohibition were not satisfied.

Let us wait for the conclusions of the court

However, questions sent three times to Dr Cardona, asking him to substantiate his claim and name the committee member or members who had a conflict of interest, have so far been met with silence.

The minister’s spokesman has refused to return calls and messages on the issue.

Last month, as the court case was under way, the head of the Government’s Privatisation Unit, Manuel Camilleri, revealed that Dr Cardona had personally ordered him to dismantle the technical committee evaluating the shortlisted bids.

Mr Camilleri said the minister had told him members on the four-man committee, presided over by former Judge Jeffrey Valenzia, had been found to have a conflict of interest as they were close to one of the bidders.

All four members had previously signed a declaration saying they had no conflict of interest.

Asked to explain his intervention, Dr Cardona had insisted he took the right decision after discovering the conflict of interest. He promised that when the court procedures were over he would name all those involved.

This newspaper is informed that the other three members appointed by the privatisation unit to the evaluation committee were Kevin Fenech and Jesmond Pace, both professionals from the financial services industry, and Joshua Zammit, CEO of Malta Industrial Parks, which falls under the political responsibility of Minister Cardona.

Negotiations with Eden Leisure are still under way and no announcement has yet been made by the government.