There seems to be no limit to the level of exploitation of taxpayers by the government in the last seven years. The publication of the first part of the National Audit Office (NAO) report on the award of a hospital management contract to Vitals Global Healthcare (VGH) in 2015 has opened another can of worms. It exposes the nadir of corruption in public governance under the premiership of Joseph Muscat.
In a lengthy but clear narrative, the NAO report lists several cases of abuse that corrupted the procurement process. The management of St Luke’s Hospital, Karen Grech Hospital and the Gozo General Hospital was passed on to a company of speculators with no relevant experience in hospital management. The Maltese public is now bound by a contract of 30 years, which can be extended to 99 years, that does not give any significant value for money. The government carries all the risks; the inexperienced operators pocketed the profits.
One of the reports’ more critical conclusions is that the award of the contract was a sham as the ethical safeguards established in the Request for Proposals were breached by the investors through the agreement reached with government before the request for proposals was issued.
“This breach necessitated the disqualification of the VGH as a bidder.”
The report goes further and states that: “There is evidence indicating collusive action between the parties acting on behalf of government with the investors of the VGH that renders the entire process dubious, irrespective of whether the process was in adherence with procedural and regulatory requirements.”
The energy section of the Ministry of Energy and Health under former minister Konrad Mizzi hijacked the whole process, with the health section of the ministry, the Ministry of Finance and even the cabinet not made aware of what was being decided behind their backs.
The government was reluctant to provide the NAO with a copy of the agreement with VGH, which the auditor sees as further confirmation of the government’s “contentious relation to the concession”.
The vetting of the bids by Projects Malta Ltd was a sham. It shows how the checks and balances that should exist in any democratic system of government have been rendered ineffective. Despite various warnings by the Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin and the Medical Association of Malta among others, it seems that no cabinet minister wanted to rock the boat by challenging the way this concession was being negotiated behind their backs.
The government says that no further political action is called for to address this scandal as Mizzi has already been forced out of the PL parliamentary group. This reaction is inadequate and it ignores the enormous damage suffered by taxpayers.
If Prime Minister Robert Abela wants to retain his political credibility with the Maltese people, he should indeed “do things differently”. For instance, there is no credible reason to keep former prime minister Joseph Muscat within the PL parliamentary group. This scandal, like many others, happened under his watch. Muscat certainly cannot deny that he knew Mizzi was cooking this corrupt deal.
The police should immediately launch an investigation to establish if there is sufficient criminal evidence to proceed against those who were involved in this scandal. And the prime minister must do everything in his power to terminate this scandalous contract that has already cost taxpayers millions of euros. The forthcoming NAO reports into this infamous deal may provide him with yet more fodder.
Malta must no longer tolerate corrupt public governance practices that are usually associated with failed states.