Opposition leader Adrian Delia on Saturday accused former prime minister Joseph Muscat of acting as a trade unionist for “foreign crooks” demanding more money for the controversial hospital concession. 

Speaking on NET FM, Dr Delia said Ram Tumuluri, who represented the original concessionaires Vitals Global Healthcare (VGH), pocketed a €5 million bonus at a time when the hospital company was practically bankrupt. 

He accused the government of handing a contract that was designed to fail. 

VGH walked away from the running of the Gozo, Karin Grech and St Luke’s hospitals in December 2017, with the lucrative concession being taken over by American company Steward Health Care. 

The government is now locked in negotiations with Steward, as the American company is reportedly demanding more taxpayer funding. 

Dr Delia said the PN would not permit further theft of public money. 

The Opposition leader demanded that the government “give us our hospitals back”.

Opposition leader Adrian Delia.

He said the company was being allowed to profit from the sick and vulnerable. 

Dr Delia claimed the hospitals used to cost the government €3 million a year to run. The government was now pumping many more millions into their running by the private company, he said.

PN reforms

Turning to the PN’s reforms, Dr Delia said the party had to adapt to an ever-changing society. 

He said changes to the party’s statute would allow for a wider representation of society within the PN, and would also allow it to better adapt to changes. 

Dr Delia said the PN had taken the lead in ensuring women were better represented in Parliament. 

The PN and PL this week agreed on the concept of gender quotas ensuring a 40 per cent representation of women on the legislative benches. 

He claimed the Labour Party had been largely absent from discussions on a technical committee about the quotas. 

The introduction of such quotas was a government proposal.