Robert Abela is fast gaining a reputation for procrastinating, for postponing the inevitable. They say that in politics, just like in comedy, timing is everything. As prime minister, Robert Abela is expected not only to do the right thing but to do it at the right time.
His decision to limit travel to and from Italy came too late. The Medical Association and Nurses Union had long been calling for such a move. Yet Prime Minister Abela chose to dillydally, potentially increasing the risk of a coronavirus outbreak in Malta.
He is showing the same reluctance to act on the Vitals contract, despite calls from the opposition, the Medical Association, the Nurses Union and the independent media to terminate the contract. His pussyfooting is costing us taxpayers millions of euros.
Earlier this week, the Times of Malta revealed that Vitals in 2017 operated at a huge loss. On the same day, the leader of the opposition, Adrian Delia, revealed that the audited accounts for 2017 raised serious questions on the ability of the Vitals Group to continue operating.
Delia also asked a series of pertinent questions including whether consultancy fees to the tune of €7 million were paid and, if so, who benefitted from these fees. Important schedules that normally give a breakdown of expenditure were missing from the accounts. Why was this?
I address these questions specifically to Minister Edward Scicluna. Minister Scicluna sat on various boards as a director. He is savvy on matters of audited accounts. He knows what it means when the auditor states: “I draw attention to Note 2.7 in the financial estimates, which indicates that as at December 31, 2017, the Group’s total liabilities exceeded its total assets by €27,382,043.
“This condition, along with other matters set forth in note 2.7, indicate the existence of a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern.”
The company was effectively technically bankrupt. Its net liabilities exceeded its assets despite government dishing out more than what was agreed to keep the operation going and despite the company failing to deliver on its obligations to government and the taxpayer.
Steward Health Care’s succession to Vitals, originally heralded by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health Chris Fearne as being “the real thing”, does not seem to have changed things to the real or for the better. But the government is still rolling over like a servile puppy and giving in to most of Steward’s demands.
Vitals and Steward were and remain in default of their contractual obligations
The government did away with a €9 million bank guarantee Steward’s was meant to come up with. Payment of taxes was deferred. Project deadlines were missed with no penalties imposed. To add insult to injury, Joseph Muscat is now apparently acting as a lobbyist for Steward’s in its bid to get more of our tax money.
It is pertinent to ask where Minister Edward Scicluna stands on all this. He should be angry, livid in fact, that the hard-earned tax money is being squandered. The people want, expect, their finance minister to defend their interest. Yet, we have a finance minister who quite casually states that this is not his responsibility, that this is someone else’s mess. But we know, he knows, that this is not what people demand of him.
By choosing to look the other way, Minister Scicluna is rendering himself a silent party to this scandalous state of affairs. His abdication of responsibility has left the taxpayer exposed.
The writing is on the wall. Steward Healthcare’s days in Malta are numbered. When they pack their bags and go, they are going to leave behind them a gaping hole in government finances with little to show for it; but not just. According to the 2017 accounts, Vitals had amassed creditors to the tune of €43 million. How many companies are going to end up bitten by this Vitals affair?
These companies have every right to hold government responsible for their losses and so should the taxpayer. With every day that passes, we are losing more money, literally throwing it down a bottomless pit. Meanwhile, people are earning consultancy fees and project costs remain unchecked.
Every day that passes without a thorough investigation is a missed opportunity for justice and a gained opportunity for those who want to hide their tracks. Timing is of the essence here and Prime Minister Abela, as a lawyer, knows this. His tactic to appoint a board was a waste of precious time. His recommendation to insist that Steward deliver on its obligations is nothing short of stating the blinking obvious.
We need to take decisive action now. Vitals and Steward were and remain in default of their contractual obligations. Hard earned taxpayer money is being wasted – money that is now sorely needed to ensure that we are equipped to deal with real and present health and economic situations. Let us put that money to good use.
Mario de Marco is a former minister and Nationalist MP