The government has refused to publish a multi-million-euro contract connected to a 500-bed extension at St Vincent de Paul Hospital in Luqa.
Rejecting a request under the Freedom of Information Act for a copy of the contract signed with James Caterers and Malta Healthcare Caterers Ltd, the permanent secretary at the Ministry for Family, Children’s Rights and Social Security, Mark Musù, said the document did not fall within the parameters of the law.
The government, he said, could not publish the contract because “it includes personal data”. Were it to be published, “it would inevitably lead to the publication of financially sensitive data, which would create prejudice to the competitiveness of the entity with whom the contract was entered into and other commercial or financial workings formulated by the said entity and which are, therefore, contained in the same contract”, Mr Musù added.
According to procedure, Times of Malta has now asked for the decision to be revised, deeming the publication of the contract in the public interest, particularly as it referred to millions of euros in taxpayer’s money being used to provide a public service.
This newspaper is informed the contract was signed last November.
Work on the St Vincent de Paul extension by the winning bidders, which, apart from James Caterers, include a subsidiary owned by the shareholders of the DB Group, has already started.
Were it to be published it would inevitably lead to the publication of financially sensitive data
The 10-year tender, issued in 2015, is for the provision of meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) for about 1,100 residents and 1,090 care professionals at St Vincent de Paul. It also provided for the demolition of the existing kitchen and the building of a new one.
According to the contract conditions, the bidders had to make an unspecified “additional investment”, as “a gift” to the government.
Two bids were received with the one submitted by a joint venture called CCE – owned by the Vassallo Group – being the cheapest offer, according to industry sources. However, the contract was awarded to James Caterers and Malta Healthcare Caterers Ltd, which made an “additional investment” of €30 million, more than half the value of the €58-million contract, the sources noted.
The “additional investment” involved the building of a state-of-the art 500-bed extension on the publicly-owned grounds of St Vincent de Paul. The tender also says the “additional investment” becomes government property at the end of the contract, which could be extended up to 15 years.
The Family Ministry has, so far, failed to answer questions on what will happen during the term of the contract. Questions to Parliamentary Secretary Anthony Agius Decelis on whether the winning consortium would be paid for the extra meals necessary to feed the 500 new residents and hundreds of new personnel to run the extension remain unanswered.
The government has also still to say whether it will be “leasing” the new facility from the James Caterers/Malta Healthcare consortium during the 10-15-year term of the contract. Who will manage the new facility and who will employ the requires carers also has still to be established.
The Democratic Party defined the tender as “unusual”, adding it would ask the Public Accounts Committee and the Auditor General to investigate. It also called for the publication of the contract.
The Nationalist Party failed to answer questions on the award of this tender.
ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com