The Italian firm that did the stonework for the new parliament building is not in a position to pay hundreds of thousands of euros it owes to Maltese contractors, Times of Malta has learnt.
A court in Bologna has ordered an Italian bank to pay a Maltese company about €150,000 owed by Filiberti Design Stone but has been told there are no funds available to cover this debt.
Ranger Ltd, the Maltese company that provided transport and machinery services to the Italian firm, said it had just been informed Filiberti has no liquidity.
“The firm’s bankers, Banca Popolare Dell’Emilia, told us that it has no funds to pay us our dues,” said a spokesman for Ranger, a subsidiary of Godwin’s garage.
We would like to know who is going to pay us for our services
“We cannot understand how this happened after all the money this company was paid by the Maltese government.
“This is not fair and we would like to know who is going to pay us for our services.”
Government sources confirmed that the Italian company has already been paid all its dues by the Maltese government.
Times of Malta has also seen a document, drawn up by a private Italian firm, showing that Filiberti is in a dire financial situation.
According to the report, the company has no immovable assets and has just €500 in its bank account at the Banca Popolare Dell’Emilia. Another account belonging to the company at the Banca Popolare di Parma is overdrawn by €15,000.
At least two other Maltese contractors involved in the Renzo Piano parliament project are known to be owed large amounts of money by Filiberti for various services and supplies. They too have filed claims in the courts.
Filiberti directors Alessandro and Michele Filiberti were unavailable for comment when this newspaper made an attempt to contact them. A secretary asked for questions to be sent by e-mail but the company – asked whether it was going to fold – did not reply by the time of going to print.
The financial difficulties encountered by one of the main contractors of this €90 million project and its failure to pay Maltese contractors is the latest in a string of mishaps to afflict the controversial building.
Last July, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Joe Mizzi had informed the Speaker that MPs could move to the new building by October, about two years after its original target date. However, contractors failed to finish on time.
Recently, a space problem cropped up involving the desks, which have had to be sent back to Italy for remodelling.
Architects at Renzo Piano’s Design Workshop last week insisted MPs could start using the state-of-the art building next month but the government agency responsible for the building, Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation, was not in a position to give a guarantee on this to MPs.