Education Minister Evarist Bartolo has ordered a ‘news blackout’ on information regarding the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools scandal so as not to prejudice ongoing criminal investigations, the Times of Malta is informed.
Until last week, Mr Bartolo was replying to any question relating to the FTS scandal involving his person of trust Edward Caruana and various multi-million infrastructural projects in schools around Malta and Gozo.
However, Mr Bartolo has now changed his stance and is refusing to reply to any more questions.
“In relation to a number of questions submitted (by the Times of Malta), please be aware that the ministry was counselled to refer to the legal responsibilities it is obliged to follow including that of not, for the time being, provide information which may interfere in investigations,” a spokeswoman for Mr Bartolo said.
The ministry cited provisions in the Freedom of Information Act to justify its new position while stating that “information is for the time being available only to the competent bodies”.
The latest decision contrasts sharply with the minister’s position last week when the scandal involving his long-time canvasser first broke.
After telling journalists that he would reply to all questions as “he had nothing to hide”, Mr Bartolo also made a statement in Parliament giving his version of what happened and how he had acted.
However, new information emerged in the following days which shed new light on the scandal. This newspaper reported that the police were looking into a possible relationship between the corruption allegations and Mr Caruana’s massive private construction development in Rabat.
According to police sources, in mid-2015, at the same time when a Gozitan contractor had reported Mr Caruana to FTS for allegedly asking for a €30,000 bribe, Mr Bartolo’s canvasser started building a four-storey private development consisting of six apartments, a penthouse and other structures.
The Sunday Times of Malta has published a list of contractors who since 2014 had received payments for work allegedly done for FTS through cheques hand-delivered by Mr Caruana. The value of the cheques delivered by Mr Caruana reached €9 million until last August.
The police are now studying the transactions made and their possible connection with the financing of Mr Caruana’s private development, both in cash or in kind.
According to a text message sent by former FTS CEO Philip Rizzo and published in parliament last week, Mr Rizzo warned Mr Bartolo that “you’re all playing with fire with highly flammable material all around in each FTS project’s file”.
“All Gozo knows what he is up to. Someone is going to ask where from during the last two years Edward [Caruana] got circa €400,000 to build a six- apartment block in Rabat.”
When finished, Mr Caruana’s development is estimated to have a market value of up to €2 million.
The Times of Malta has asked Mr Bartolo whether his person of trust was also responsible for other infrastructural projects at the Education Ministry apart from schools.
The ministry was also asked to give a list of all the projects Mr Caruana was involved in, including those related to ongoing works at a new school in Dingli (Swatar), estimated to cost some €9.5 million. Work on this school also started at the same time as Mr Caruana’s private development.