The controversial waiver clause in the final agreement over Mater Dei Hospital in 2009 was not put to Cabinet for approval, former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday.
Dr Gonzi was replying to questions on revelations that the agreement negotiated by the Foundation for Medical Services with Skanska included a waiver freeing the Swedish construction company from any future liability in return for dropping more than €23m in claims against the FMS.
On Sunday, John Dalli, who was health minister at the time, said he would have taken any such contract before Cabinet for discussion and approval.
However, Dr Gonzi said: “So far as I can recall – as I am travelling out of Malta at the moment – and after consulting some of my [former] Cabinet colleagues, this so-called waiver clause was never put to Cabinet for approval,” Dr Gonzi said.
When contacted Mr Dalli insisted he did not have a copy of the contract the government was making reference to.
“I do not know what contract they are talking about, and if Lawrence Gonzi is saying it never came before Cabinet, then I must have never seen it myself because it was always my practice to seek Cabinet approval in such circumstances,” he said.
The closure agreement, apart from the controversial clause, has so far not been made public by the government, which has accused the former Nationalist administration of releasing foreign and Maltese contractors from their contractual responsibilities.
‘I would never have agreed such a waiver’
The accusations came after a study that showed how the concrete at the hospital was of an inferior quality to that expected of a structure that must be earthquake-proof.
Dr Gonzi said: “I understand that the wording covers outstanding issues raised and negotiated between both parties but does not include waiver of bad workmanship and/or fraudulent activity or any other statutory responsibilities according to Maltese law. In any event I would have never authorised or countenanced such a blanket waiver.”
The government has in-sisted the waiver will make it difficult to recoup the more than €30 million needed to put right the structural problems.
Mr Dalli yesterday reiterated he was unable to verify if defects of a structural nature were included in the exemptions because he did not have a copy of the contract.
He said everybody knew the Foundation for Medical Services was discussing a closure agreement with Skanska at the time but the agency also had a level of autonomy.
Meanwhile, Mr Dalli’s brother, Sebastian, countered PN health shadow minister Claudette Buttigieg’s claim on the TV programme Reporter that the defective concrete was supplied by him.
The government has said defective concrete was laid at the start of 1996 without identifying the suppliers. But an excerpt from a book published by the Labour Party in the 1990s on government scandals identified Sebastian Dalli’s Mixer Ltd as the supplier during the period.
“I would like to state that I supplied a very small fraction of the concrete for the Mater Dei project and I did this as a supplier to one of the subcontractors... in 1996 I never supplied concrete to the Mater Dei project alone, as there were always other suppliers and contractors involved,” Sebastian Dalli said in a statement.
Ms Buttigieg last night called on the government to publish all the reports and documents on the issue. She said all available information should be released. The president of the PN’s executive council, Ann Fenech, said the government would only be weakening its case if it insisted on suing to recoup expenses and speaking about the waiver at once. She felt the government could sue notwithstanding the waiver.
After reading the waiver clause in the agreement signed by the Foundation for Medical Services and Skanska in 2009, Dr Fenech was asked whether the PN would release the contract. She replied she would have to take legal advice.