Updated 5.50pm

The Democratic Party is calling on Nationalist MPs and Labour backbenchers to hold the government to account over a €274 million direct order for the 10-year management of a new facility at St Vincent de Paul Residence.

After asking the Public Accounts Committee to hold an urgent meeting on the matter, PD MPs Godfrey Farrugia and Marlene Farrugia have now sent a letter to the MPs calling them out for their lack of action.

As elected public servants, the Oaths of Office obliged MPs to scrutinise the government’s work in accordance with the highest possible standards, in the interests of the country and the public, they said in their letter.

"The state of affairs relating to the €274 million in public money going to the building of new wards at St Vincent de Paul must be questioned by the Nationalist Opposition and the backbenchers of the Labour Party," they said, adding that so far, only the PD Opposition has held the executive branch of government to account.

Reacting, the parliamentary secretariat for active ageing said that it had "absolutely no problem" with contracts relating to the deal being scrutinised by the PAC and auditor general. 

Mistake or not?

It took the government more than a month to say that a notice, published in the Government Gazette in July announcing that James Caterers and a subsidiary of the db Group being awarded a £274 million direct order, was a mistake.

The consortium originally won a €60 million tender for the provision of meals and the demolition and construction of a new kitchen at St Vincent de Paul.

However, according to the government, following negotiations with the consortium which started after the award of the tender, it was agreed that the private companies would build a 500-bed extension to the old people’s home and in return get €274 million in government payments to manage the new facility.

Parliamentary Secretary Anthony Agius Decelis, who is responsible for active ageing told the Times of Malta on Wednesday that the notice which appeared on the Government Gazette was “a mistake”.

But a spokesman for the Department of Information, which falls under the direct political responsibility of the Office of the Prime Minister, subsequently denied that there had been a mistake on their part.

Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Meanwhile, in their letter, the two PD MPs reiterated that they had written to the PAC, so that Parliament “may scrutinise the issue together, in good faith, in the interests of the country, and so that this contract is overseen by the Auditor General immediately”.

PD added that while it awaited the report that Finance Minister Edward Scicluna had ordered to be compiled by the Director of Contracts, saying that this same report should also be tabled for discussion by the PAC.

'No problem' - Parliamentary secretary

In a statement, Mr Agius Decelis' office said it welcomed the PD initiative and had "absolutely no problem" with the PAC and Auditor General examining the contracts. 

"It is clear that everything was done by the book," the secretariat said, dismissing news of the €274m direct order as a "fabricated story". 

"The entire process, which was overseen by the Contracts Department, contrasts with the way the previous government's cabinet approved extensions to the Żejtun Home and Cospicua Home by direct order," it said.