The lack of clarity in procurement requirements inserted in a public tender to supply thousands of ready-made meals for migrants in detention and open centres has forced the government to postpone the offer’s deadline.

The tender issued earlier this year was intended to supply some 120,000 meals a month for asylum seekers and refugees, but major players in the catering industry fear the tender might have been addressed to suit a “particular business” due to its “ambiguous” requirements.

The concern pushed a leading industrial caterer to cry foul, asking the government to re-write the requirements of the tender.

The tender’s main bone of contention is over the lack of requirements inserted in the tender, specifying that the winning supplier would need to have a ‘halal certification’ at tendering stage to qualify.

According to James Caterers Ltd, which is currently already supplying meals to migrants, all meals requested are currently ‘halal’, which adheres to Islamic law.

The tender issued by the Home Affairs Ministry did not include the specific requirement for the new supplier to have a halal-certified kitchen at the tendering stage and will only require this after the tender is adjudicated. 

Claiming this is a flawed tender, James Caterers Ltd, which invested millions in recent years to have a certified halal industrial kitchen, asked the Public Contracts Review Board to force a change in the tender’s requirements.

The ambiguity, in the sense that halal certification is not required, is dangerous and illegal

“The ambiguity, in the sense that halal certification is not required, is dangerous and illegal and the contracting authority should be directed to amend the tender document,” the company is arguing. 

The government said the tender does not necessarily require halal-only meals and that the law in Malta does not cater for Islamic law certified meals.

However, according to June 2019 statistics, all meals delivered to migrants that month were requested to be halal. For the past years, the government supplied three meals a day – breakfast, lunch and dinner – to those hosted at detention and open centres.

Times of Malta is informed there are several halal-certified industrial kitchens on the island, although the number is restricted.

“It is quite obvious that this halal certification requirement has been left out of the tender so that some company or individual who does not currently have the halal facilities can still apply and be awarded the tender,” the sources said.

“Once the tender is awarded, it will be very easy for a caterer to ‘invest’ in halal certified facilities once it is guaranteed a lucrative tender,” the sources added.

Responding to the appeal filed by James Caterers Ltd, the government is arguing that “halal is a religious process” and is not regulated in Malta.