Opposition will ask PAC to investigate Brussels purchase

The Labour Party will be seeking an investigation into the acquisition of Malta House in Brussels through the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), MLP foreign affairs spokesman Leo Brincat told a press conference at party headquarters yesterday.

Mr Brincat explained that if the auditor-general did not start an investigation into the acquisition after the summer recess, committee chairman Charles Mangion (MLP deputy leader) will request the investigation.

The PAC has the right to call people who were involved in the property acquisition to testify in public and establish the facts.

Mr Brincat asked for a clear explanation as to why the auditor-general did not feel the need to investigate the case. He said the property acquisition would lead to the deficit being 10 per cent higher than government projections.

Labour's main foreign affairs spokesman George Vella said the property acquisition was aptly described by an editorial in The Times recently as a "political blunder of the first order".

He said the smallest EU country with a deficit problem went for the most expensive property to be close to the European Commission.

Dr Vella said the building was one of the biggest mistakes Dr Gonzi's government could have made. He said that while the government says it wanted to control the deficit, it was incurring a Lm10 million expenditure at the same time when the Gozo Channel terminal project was stalled because of lack of funds.

He said at the same time the government did not have any scruples to buy Malta House and increase the interest on the national debt by Lm500,000 annually.

The Labour spokesman said he had the right to ask to see the bills charged by architect Martin Xuereb when he did private work for Richard Cachia Caruana, since the latter was now a public figure. He said the time had come for the Maltese to know the extent of Mr Cachia Caruana's powers since he had an "enormous influence" on the Cabinet.

MLP deputy leader Michael Falzon said the government was insensitive to the people's needs, but then it found no problems to allow for waste and abuses. Malta was a "banana republic", where a person like Mr Cachia Caruana, not elected by the people, had the power to fork out around Lm10 million from the country's coffers for Malta House.

Apart from this, he said, it would cost around Lm1.1 million annually to run Malta House. To rub salt to the wound, the property was dilapidated.

Dr Falzon said despite talk about work opportunities for the Maltese, local workers were not going to be employed on the rehabilitation of Malta House, expected to cost Lm2.5 million. Instead, the work will be carried out by foreigners.

Dr Vella said according to EU regulations a call for tenders has to take place for modernisation work that cost more than €5 million. However, he said, the Maltese government was not abiding by these regulations because although the modernisation of Malta House would cost more than €5 million, the government already had an agreement with a Belgian company, Cofinmimmo.

Besides, parts of the Brussels building which made most commercial sense were already occupied, and were not included in the acquisition. A number of other buildings in the area would have been a better buy for Malta, Dr Falzon said.

Although the government argued that the building's value will appreciate in time, Dr Falzon said this did not hold water because property appreciation did not justify squandering. And Dr Vella said that to argue that the government will make a profit from the acquisition of Malta House did not make sense because the government's duty was not to invest in property but to run the country.

Dr Vella asked whether this was the ideal place to house commercial entities. The best place for them would be in the commercial centre and not the political centre, where Malta House was, he said.

Alternattiva Demokratika chairman Harry Vassallo yesterday described the Dar Malta affair as a clear example of the government's distorted sense of priorities.

"It shows the government's lack of seriousness in tackling the country's deficit. By spending such an extravagant sum on the seat for Malta's permanent representation in Brussels, it is sending out the wrong message to the country. People cannot be expected to sacrifice on welfare, health and pensions when the government does not do its part and keeps spending lavishly," he said.

He added Malta was also sending the wrong message in Europe by spending far more than many other new member states who had rented or bought cheaper properties.

Coming from a country which constantly sought EU help, such behaviour was completely unwarranted.

Dr Vassallo also called on the government to inform the public when the decision to rent out floors was taken, and how much it will cost to make the premises rentable. He also insisted on a transparent investigation of the whole affair.