The Transport Ministry has refused to comment on a damning report drawn up by the Auditor General of the Transport Authority's mismanagement of road construction projects partly financed by the Fifth-Italo Maltese Financial Protocol.
The ADT ignored ministerial instructions to stick to the available budget, adopted unorthodox payment processes, and appointed supervisors nominated by the contractors, according to the report released last Tuesday. The ADT has made no effort since the publication of the report to answer criticism and questions sent to the ministry by The Sunday Times on whether anyone will be held accountable remained unanswered.
The ADT failed to say whether any action will be implemented to avoid similar occurrences highlighted in the Auditor General's report.
The report conclusions expose a series of shortcomings of the roadworks. For example, supervisors were empowered to "provide the extra design services that could become necessary as the works progress" and even "to order any modification to any part of the works necessary for the proper completion and/or functioning of the works".
It was the supervisor who suggested modifications, decided on whether to proceed with them, and determined, to a large extent, their cost. In the end, the 'Italian' roads budget was exceeded by €8 million, in spite of a contingency of 48 per cent in the original budget allocations for any unforeseen expenditure.
The report is highly critical of the ADT's control mechanisms, or lack of them. The Roads Ministry had issued specific instructions to the ADT to maintain its own (independent) system of checks and measurement of works. The ADT, however, did not abide by such instructions and put the onus of checks on the same supervisor.
"ADT's decision not to abide by the ministry's instructions, opting instead to rely solely on the checks run by the supervisors, causes concern, especially so when coupled with the fact that the supervisors in question had been nominated by the contractors," the Auditor General said.
When the National Audit Office requested access to relevant documentation maintained by the supervisors, it was not made available.