(Adds PL statement)

The Auditor General has accepted BWSC’s request for a meeting and although one was also offered to the PL, the latter was avoiding it, the Infrastructure Ministry said.

The Ministry said this evening it could not understand how the Labour Party could consider a story in a newspaper proof of corruption without heeding the conclusions of the Danish police on the article.

Referring to the case of the BWSC, the company which has been given the tender for the new power station, the ministry said the PL were accusing the Danish police and legal system of failing to act and to curb corruption.

Labour leader Joseph Muscat yesterday presented the auditor general with investigations carried out by a Danish newspaper which concluded that the company had used bribery to win contracts abroad.

Dr Gatt asked the company to explain the situation to the Auditor General, the company denied the allegation and sent the minister a copy of a letter from the Danish police saying that it was unlikely that a criminal offence had been committed.

The PL said in a statement the assessor did not say whether there had been corruption but that there was probably no cause for action under Danish law.

The ministry said in a statement it could not understand why the PL was objecting to the ministry’s insistence with the BWSC to answer to the allegations made by Dr Muscat yesterday.

It said that although both the company and the ministry directly contacted the PL, the party was avoiding a meeting with the BWSC during which it could ask all the questions it wanted.

The BWSC offered to meet the PL on Monday to explain its view and position to the accusations made.

PL STATEMENT

The government’s defence for BWSC was without precedent, the PL said.

It said that the government’s publication of an e-mail the company sent the leader of the opposition early this afternoon confirmed suspicions that the government and BWSC had become one.

The party said that its director of communications received a telephone call early this afternoon from a communications officer within the Infrastructure Ministry to confirm the Opposition leader’s e-mail address so that he could be contacted by BWSC.

Following months of allegations based on facts, it was only now that the government decided to act, the party said.

The PL said it would be taking all the necessary steps for the benefit of the Maltese taxpayer.