Updated 5.12pm - Added PA statement
The government is prepared to carry out a review of the work carried out by the firm hired as lead consultant for the Paceville master plan, it said this morning, amid the controversy sparked yesterday.
A parliamentary committee heard last night that Planning Authority chairman Johann Buttigieg knew that a firm hired as lead consultants for the Paceville master plan had provided advisory services to a developer with plans to build a high-rise building.
UK-based Mott MacDonald had verbally informed Mr Buttigieg about their work on engineering reports for the construction of Mercury House in Paceville, with the PA chairman telling them to proceed with their master plan consultancy.
Planning Parliamentary Secretary Deborah Schembri told Parliament's House Environmental and Development Planning Committee that the government had not been told about the firm's dual roles.
In a statement this morning, the government said the private company which worked on the project had said the mechanical work on one of the proposed towers was carried out by one of its branches.
The PA said it was informed of this fact when the private company was commissioned to carry out the work, but it did not feel there was a conflict of interest and failed to inform the government.
"After hearing the questions raised during the Environment and Planning Committee on a project of national importance, and since Paceville will be undergoing a holistic plan after years of neglect, there should not be a shadow cast on the benefits of a national project."
"The consultation process was intended to ensure that any development is carried out in a planned way," the government said.
'Mott MacDonald had given us guarantees' - PA
In a statement issued in the afternoon, the Planning Authority insisted that it had no reason to consider there was a conflict of interest, as Mott MacDonald had "internal policies in place to ensure no information is shared with any person outside the project team".
The PA said that it had made it clear to the UK-based consultancy group that "at no point were they allowed to make contact with any person, agent or architect who had a stakeholder interest in Paceville."
It argued that the Mott MacDonald team that provided reports concerning Mercury House was "totally different" to the team that worked on the Paceville master plan.