Three judges have rapped Transport Malta for “scandalously” defending its decision to secretly extend a public concession for ferry services around Valletta, with the court condemning it to pay double the legal expenses as punishment.
The judges said that while it understood that those with business interests in the matter may be tempted to cling onto baseless arguments to protect their interests, they expected much better from a public authority.
“The court expects more correctness from a public authority such as the Malta Transport Authority. It is frankly scandalous for the authority to put forward an argument that it could circumvent the law by doing things in secret,” the judges ruled.
The extension of the services in the Grand Harbour and Marsamxett had only been made public through a parliamentary question in December 2020, months after being granted.
The court expects more correctness from a public authority such as the Malta Transport Authority- Court
Acting Chief Justice Giannino Caruana Demajo and judges Anthony Ellul and Robert Mangion were ruling on an appeal filed by Transport Malta against a previous court order.
This concerned a judgment ordering a revision of the extension which had been filed by Supreme Travel Ltd.
The dispute revolved around a concession for scheduled ferry services between Sliema, Valletta and the three cities which rival operator Marsamxetto Steamferry Services Ltd had won by public tender in 2012. That concession was due to expire in 2020.
That was when Supreme Travel Ltd, as an operator having an economic interest in the market, observed that the ferry services had continued unchanged, prompting a query with Transport Malta.
No response was forthcoming but a reply to a parliamentary question answered by the transport minister revealed that the original concession had been extended for an additional three years.
Two months later, Supreme Travel Ltd filed a letter of objection before the Public Contracts Review Board (PCRB), challenging the extension in terms of the law.
The board threw out that objection, stating it was “inadmissible since it was not filed within the six-month period following the signing of the contract”, leading it to take the matter to court in a case filed against TM, Marsamxetto Steamferry Services Ltd, owned by Captain Morgan, the transport minister and the director general at the Contracts Department.
The court upheld the argument “in the interest of rectitude and justice” and ordered a review of the extension by the PCRB. But TM filed an appeal demanding that the appeal is heard from scratch because the court had misapplied the law.
Ruling on this appeal, the three judges observed that TM was “only playing with words” by putting forward “absurd” arguments and interpretations of the law.
They, therefore, ordered TM to pay double the cost of the proceedings and sent the case back to the PCRB to rule on Supreme Travel’s objections.