Updated Saturday with reactions

The Democratic Party's MPs have filed a complaint with the European Commission to have a formal investigation opened on what it said was a breach of EU procurement regulations involving the St Vincent de Paule residence. 

The government is failing to administer the tax money and the country's assets entrusted to it by the people in a just, transparent, and accountable manner, PD said in a statement. 

Times of Malta has carried reports on how a €60 million contract for meals and a new kitchen morphed into a €270 million contract for the management of a new 500-bed hospital at the Luqa home for the elderly.

Read: Record quarter billion euro direct order approved

Local and EU regulations and practices have been infringed at the expense of taxpayers’ money, PD said.

"The money being spent on a large, centralised building would be much better spent if we had smaller residential homes in our towns and villages where our elderly can be cared for within the community they are familiar with."

Meanwhile, the Nationalist Party has also asked the Auditor General to investigate the contract.

Through its three members on the Public Accounts Committee, the PN will be urging the AG to check whether the contract was issued in line with the rules and established procedures. 

In light of contradictory statements, the Opposition called for clarifications on the matter for the sake of transparency and good governance. 

But the Parliamentary Secretary for the Elderly replied and said the government had already accepted PD's request to look into the story it said had been "fabricated" by Times of Malta

"The Opposition knows that the contract abided by all procedures and regulations. PN leader Adrian Delia said two weeks ago that he had already met with private investors who won the public tender.

"Delia knows that no direct order was given. He also knows that the Public Contracts Review Board and the Appeals Court confirmed the decision taken by the Department of Contracts."

Referring to the €274 million contract, awarded by the government to a consortium made up of James Caterers and a subsidiary of the db Group, the PD said the circumstances surrounding the controversial contract “must be questioned by the Nationalist Opposition and the backbenchers of the Labour Party in Parliament”.

“As things stand,” the PD had noted, “it is only the Democratic Party in Parliament that is holding the executive branch of government to account.”

Sources close to Parliament said that although a PN MP chaired the PAC, its agenda had still to be agreed with the government, which commanded a majority even within the committee.

The sources said that “although it is true that the PN is looking very weak in front of this contract for some unknown reason, the next subject which the PAC will discuss has to be chosen by the government side.

It is clear that everything was done by the book

In line with practice, the sources continued, the items on the PAC agenda were chosen alternately by the government and the Opposition.

The PN was also asked if it was receiving any donations, in cash or in kind, from James Caterers and/or any of the companies within the db Group.

Times of Malta is informed that the PN’s parliamentary group has not met for weeks.

According to a notice that appeared in the Malta Government Gazette last month, the government had approved a record direct order of €274 million to the JCL and MHC consortium. However, earlier this week, the Parliamentary Secretary for Active Ageing, Anthony Agius Decelis, said the notice was a mistake by the publishers of the official journal.

The Department of Information denied it had made a mistake and insisted that what appeared in the Malta Government Gazette was what was submitted by the ministries and other official entities.

Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said last month he did not know anything about such direct order, adding he had not authorised it. He said he had ordered a report on the matter by the Department of Contracts but no further information has been forthcoming since.

The government has insisted that the awarding of the €60 million contract, which ballooned by more than four times after employing a so-called “negotiated procedure”, was in line with public procurement rules.

However, legal operators said the EU procurement rules did not allow such a contract to be inflated by more than 50 per cent of its original value.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.