The government has yet to say why the new shooting range at Ta’ Kandja cost €14 million, double the amount mentioned by the Prime Minister when he announced the project in May.

Nor would it provide information about who at Sport Malta had authorised the allocation of 25 direct orders connected with the facility, most of them worth millions of euros.

Chris Bonnet, at the time acting CEO of Sport Malta, admitted that some of the direct orders were issued under his watch: “Yes, I authorised some of the direct orders,” he said when contacted. “However, I am not able to give you any details and it will be better to ask the ministry.”

Sport Malta sources told Times of Malta that most of the 25 direct orders had been authorised by Dr Bonnet, known to be close to Sport Parliamentary Secretary Clifton Grima.

A spokeswoman for Dr Grima was evasive when asked to indicate who had authorised each direct order, their total exceeding €13 million. The parliamentary secretariat falls under the wing of the Education Ministry.

“All procurement for the Malta National Shooting Ranges was made in adherence to the public procurement regulations and governmental procedures,” she told the Times of Malta.

READ: Massive shooting range approved without full development application

All procurement adhered to the regulations and governmental procedures

“As already stated publicly on numerous occasions, all procurement was approved by the board of directors of Sport Malta and the Department of Contracts or the Ministry for Finance, as required by law,” she pointed out.

Times of Malta reported last week that the cost of the new shooting range, used for the first time last June for the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup, had almost doubled.

A few months before work on the construction started, the Prime Minister  said the facility would cost €7 million. However, when all the bills were added up, including those connected to the 25 direct orders given because of “urgent works”, the total sum shot up to about €14 million.

Questions sent to the Education Ministry regarding the reasons for the substantial overrun and the final cost of the facility remained unanswered at the time of writing.

The sources at Sport Malta have questioned the “justification” mentioned by the government that the direct orders were necessary due to the “urgency” of the project.

They insisted that the government had known of the need for such a range at least since 2015, when Malta won the bid to host the shooting World Cup.

Documents show that nearly all the contracts covering massive infrastructural works were allocated through direct orders, with road builders Bonnici Brothers receiving more than €5 million in direct orders.

Another major beneficiary of direct orders was Bava Holdings, a company whose shareholders own Construct Furniture in Luqa.

The direct orders also covered the direct procurement of services such as the hiring of a site officer and three architectural firms for engineering works and project designs.

ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com