The failed bidders of a €2 million contract for the dismantling of the old Delimara power plant expressed incredulity after it was announced that an Italian firm facing financial difficulties had secured it.
Questions sent yesterday questioning why Enemalta persisted in awarding the tender to General Smontaggi remained unanswered at the time of writing. It only said it was made aware of the “allegations” by one of the bidders.
“The investigations confirmed that the allegations [made by a bidder] included incomplete and irrelevant details which have no bearing on the adjudication process for the demolition of the Delimara 1 plant built in 1992,” Enemalta said.
But speaking on condition of anonymity, a representative of one of the unsuccessful bidders told Times of Malta yesterday it was incredible that, despite clear rules that companies under court administration should be disqualified, Enemalta still insisted on awarding this contract to .
“Either no due diligence was done or, worse, someone wanted to award this tender to the Italian firm at all costs,” another said.
Asked why they did not object through formal channels instead of venting their frustration via the media, the representatives said they did not want to fork out any more money, since it would probably be money down the drain.
Either no due diligence was done or, worse, someone wanted to award this tender to the Italian firm at all costs
“We have limited trust in the current state of the public procurement system, as recent experience has taught us we are normally not given any redress,” one bidder said.
“This was such a clear case of disqualification that we took it for granted that General Smontaggi was automatically excluded. The fact that no one objects does not preclude Enemalta from ignoring public procurement rules,” another noted.
Under procurement rules, objectors pay substantial amounts, normally running into thousands of euros, to seek redress.
Tender specifications stipulated that any economic operator “whose affairs are being administered by the court” may be excluded from participating.
Court decrees issued by the Tribunale di Novara in 2015 declared the company to be “in a state of irreversible insolvency, which is not of a temporary nature” and placed it under a court-appointed commissioner’s administration.
The decree also stipulated that all the commercial activities performed by the Italian company up until the end of 2017 had to be approved by the court-appointed commissioner.
If this was not done, it specified, the company would immediately be declared bankrupt.
When The Sunday Times of Malta flagged the case last month, Enemalta insisted the award of the tender had not yet concluded.
However, Enemalta yesterday issued a statement confirming the award to General Smontaggi.
Enemalta said that “when the recommended bidder was identified earlier in December, all bidders were informed that they had 20 days to present any appeals for reconsideration and objections. None of the eight international companies that competed in this process registered an objection.”