There are a handful of government projects in Malta which are potentially so important that they simply cannot get off the ground. The logistics hub could very well join that unfortunate group.

There are a number of reasons for this and, if we were kind, we would assume that it is because the government is holding out as long as possible for the best deal in the public interest. Of course, the reality is that the larger the project, the larger the private interests at stake – and therefore the larger the pressure put on the government.

This means you could see the still-on-the-drawing-board White Rocks project after decades as being a sign of a responsible government trying to get it right, insufficient private interest, or – heavens forbid! – not enough done by investors to smooth their way.

With the Marsa Shipbuilding site, several bidders over the decades have dissipated into thin air. Now Ablecare has won the concession for the whole site, although the terms are not known as, rather than being subjected to parliamentary scrutiny, this particular concession was handled through Malta Industrial Parks.

With the logistics hub, the government once again talked and talked and talked. What is not evident, however, is whether it listened at all. Last October, when the request for proposals was first published, The Business Observer had raised a number of questions, concluding with the sentence: “It remains to be seen whether the government, after all this time, has got the elements right”.

There were many questions about the RFP. Why was the government going to give the site to one operator rather than to Malta Industrial Parks? Had that happened, then instead of one operator putting up the €80 million investment, different operators could have bid for parts of the site, if necessary with different financing options, and with different international partners.

Giving it to one bidder spooked local operators, who speculated whether there was already someone earmarked for the site, so that even the €10,000 submission bond was enough of a deterrent and, it seems – although the Economics Ministry has steadfastly ignored requests for information – no one actually submitted a bid.

The operators who might have had an interest in the hub fall into two categories: those who already have warehouses at Ħal Far and those who would love to. There was a compelling argument for operators from either category to form a consortium and jointly seek an international player as the main user: rumours of Amazon and Lidl being interested have been flying around since the RFP was issued last October.

When the January 13 deadline came and went, there was a deafening silence from the ministry, and the only reply obtained by the Times of Malta was that a second RFP would be issued. Stakeholders, ranging from operators to business associations, merely shrugged, clearly having anticipated that there were too many reasons why it would fail, but hoping that the second one would make more commercial sense.

And yet, instead of getting feedback from them, instead of seeing what it could do to improve the chances of success, within just a few days, the Privatisation Unit has issued a fresh call, closing in nine weeks.

None of the concerns raised by the stakeholders has been taken into consideration. It still requires a €80 million investment, constructing 400,000 cubic metres of warehousing space – with all the turnover of imports and exports that this would require to make it feasible.

Sometimes, you just don’t know whether to laugh or cry.