The new shooting range at Ta’ Kandja, in the limits of Siġġiewi, has cost in the region of €14 million, double the original estimate, the Times of Malta is informed.

Most of the infrastructural works on the multimillion-euro facility were carried out without the normal public call for tenders, industry sources noted. Instead of following public procurement rules, Sport Malta, the government’s agency responsible for the project, bypassed the system and dished out about 25 direct orders to a few private companies, they added.

The government justified the many direct orders, some running into millions of euros, saying they were “due to urgency”.

Documents show that nearly all the contracts for infrastructural works were allocated through direct orders, with Sport Malta choosing which companies should be engaged.

Road builders Bonnici Brothers received more than €5 million in works, including the building of a €2.3 million backstop and the €1.7 million installation of artificial turf.

The intention to build a range was announced in May 2017... This is just ridiculous

Bava Holdings, a company whose shareholders also own Construct Furniture of Luqa, also benefitted from direct orders. It was engaged in a raft of works ranging from the supply of tiling and sanitary ware to excavation and mechanical and electrical installations.

Sources close to Sport Malta termed the list of direct orders issued on one project a “record breaker”. They also deemed it to be rather odd that the budget had been exceeded to such an extent, given that this was not a very complicated project.

The sources said that while the Education Ministry, which was politically responsible for the project, had used the “urgency” card to justify the direct orders, the government had known of the need for such a sports facility for at least three years.

The government had known of the need for such a sports facility for at least three years

“In a press release issued in September 2015, the International Shooting Sport Federation announced that Malta was to hold a World Cup in 2018. The government was consulted by the local federation before it put in its bid, and thus, the government cannot state that the works to build a range were urgent. This is just ridiculous,” the sources commented.

The government’s intention to build a state-of-the-art shooting range was announced in May 2017, when the country was in full-on electoral mode.

During a Labour Party press conference as part of the electoral campaign, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat pledged that if Labour were returned to power, it would build a shooting range in time for the hosting of the World Cup last June.

Dr Muscat said that the range, over 90 acres of land, was estimated to cost €7 million.

Shooting range direct orders

Type of work Contractor Value in €
Architecture and engineering Sammut & Associates 80,000
Architecture and engineering Elfipa (Italian company) 62,837
Architecture and engineering Claude Mallia 130,000
Project manager GC Consultants Ltd 60,000
Site officer Jethron Azzopardi 33,264
Relocation of Nissan hut Bava Holdings 73,812
Excavation works Bava Holdings 86,056
Tiles and sanitary ware Bava Holdings 94,162
Mechanical and electrical works Bava Holdings 112,322
Alterations and finishes Bava Holdings 160,231
Finishes of farmhouse Bava Holdings 25,416
Excavation works – clubhouse Bava Holdings 9,377
Apertures Neil Said and Josef Muscat 47,157
Plumbing Enemalta 30,637
Cabling works Enemalta 106,166
Main electrical switchgear Enemalta 219,102
Topographic survey MV Camilleri 11,900
Range equipment Nastakiekko OY (Finnish) 141,500
Shotnet system O. Luntz GmbH (German) 2,360,000
Backstop Bonnici Brothers 2,371,534
Finishing of stand Bonnici Brothers 262,989
Construction of access road and retaining wall Bonnici Brothers 1,500,000
Supply and installation of artificial turf Bonnici Brothers 1,700,000
Demolition and relocation of farmhouse Bonnici Brothers 103,359
Pruning and removal of trees ELC Ltd 80,936

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