Finance Minister Edward Scicluna.

The Finance Minister yesterday skirted questions on a contract worth about €1.04 million for IT networks at the prison that was awarded by direct order rather than after a call for tenders.

Edward Scicluna was asked on the matter during a news conference when the 2016 Public Contracts Review Board’s annual report was published.

Awarded in December last year to Infinite Fusion Technologies for the upgrading of the IT networks at Corradino Correctional Facility, the contract only came to light last April through a parliamentary question by Opposition MP Jason Azzopardi. Later, it also transpired that the contract had the blessing of the Finance Ministry.

The Home Affairs Ministry, which had awarded the direct order, subsequently asked the Auditor General, via the Public Accounts Committee, to look into the matter. The Home Affairs Minister had refuted allegations of wrongdoing.

Prof. Scicluna said yesterday the Contracts Department had a very important function to ensure that taxpayers’ money was being well spent. Public procurement, he added, amounted to millions of euros every year and, consequently, additional safeguards and screening processes were in place for contracts above a certain threshold.

“Transparency, accountability and efficiency are crucial,” Prof. Scicluna remarked.

Transparency, accountability and efficiency are crucial

When this newspaper pointed out that in the case of the €1.04 million contract no public call had been issued, the minister said the case was related to the governance of a particular ministry.

While not going into the merits of the case, Prof. Scicluna pointed out that there were instances when direct orders of a certain amount could be justified under certain conditions, such as urgent deadlines. However, such procedures should not be resorted to as a means of circumventing public scrutiny, he said.

When particular cases cropped up, ministers could still be held accountable through the tabling of parliamentary questions, he continued.

“In normal circumstances, contracts of such value should go through the Contracts Department. If this does not happen, whoever was responsible for the decision must be held to account,” he said.

Asked whether the IT networks contract could have been handled better, the minister would not comment further.

“It is not fair to pinpoint particular cases, when none of the institutions [represented during for the press conference] were involved,” Prof. Scicluna said.

The Public Contracts Review Board’s annual report shows that, last year, 125 appeals had been filed, with the average duration of hearings dropping to 18 days each. The contracts’ combined value was of €109 million and 38 per cent of the appeals were upheld. No pending case were carried forward to this year.

In comparison, 116 appeals had been lodged in 2015, 40 per cent of which being rejected.