Bonett defends Ta’ Qali €311,000 direct order, concedes failure would be costly

Updated 11.50am with PN reaction.

The public works minister has defended a controversial €311,000 direct order for gravel at Ta’ Qali picnic area but conceded it would be an expensive mistake if it fails.

Chris Bonett, who is also infrastructure and transport minister, told Times of Malta he has so far been advised that the gravel laid at the picnic area is expected to deliver the intended results. However, he said there would be no shame in acknowledging if it does not.

“We can’t be proud,” he said. “If it doesn’t work, we must find alternatives to it. I’ve often admitted to making a mistake that needed to be fixed and there’s no weakness in that. I’m not saying this is the case with the Ta’ Qali project but, if it doesn’t work, we take remedial measures.”

The minister was speaking during an interview, which is due to be released later this week, recorded on the new Msida flyover.

During the interview, he defended the €311,000 direct order used to procure the gravel, arguing that such mechanisms are sometimes necessary to move projects forward.

“I’m going to shock you with this but with infrastructural projects you sometimes need to issue direct orders to get work done,” he said.

He claimed such direct orders have been unfairly “demonised”.

“We handed bigger direct orders than that one at Infrastructure Malta and they’re all documented. You can do it if you have valid reasons for it,” he said.

“Sometimes, if you don’t grab the bull by the horns and do it, you’ll never get it done.”

The government can issue direct orders but the authorities are technically only allowed to award contracts with a value of up to €10,000 by direct order, except in exceptional cases.

In practice, the authorities ignore that rule and regularly carry out much larger, costlier projects through direct order provisions.

'Even tenders can be corrupt'

When pushed on the fact that direct orders create fertile ground for favouritism and corruption, he said even tenders can be corrupt if used by anyone with bad intentions.

He admitted that if the gravel project does not work, the direct order would have been an expensive mistake for taxpayers but he insisted that people taking these decisions are doing it with the right intentions and, sometimes, despite all the good intentions, things do not work out.

“The alternative is to do nothing at all,” he said.

“No government ever got everything spot on. We’re humans at the end of the day.”

The use of gravel at Ta’ Qali sparked a controversy last August after images circulated online showed large sections of the picnic area looking bare.

Jason Micallef, who heads the unit responsible for the park, dismissed the criticism as “nonsense”, saying the gravel would reduce dust in summer, prevent flooding and allow grass to regrow in winter.

Meanwhile, political party Momentum pushed Micallef to reveal details of how much the gravel cost and to publish studies that prove it would improve soil conditions.

The issue resurfaced last month when a water bowser was seen irrigating the area overnight. Micallef later said the grass would return once sufficient rainfall arrived, probably around mid-December, insisting critics needed to be patient.

Times of Malta visited the picnic area again yesterday, after a morning of rainfall. Grass had still not grown back on the gravel-covered areas whereas it seemed to have grown normally in the areas that were not covered. Some large patches of gravel were also flooded from the morning rain.

Earlier this month, Bonett confirmed in a reply to a parliamentary question by Nationalist MP Rebekah Borg, that the system cost €311,141 and the gravel came from Greece. It was a direct order given to Bonnici Bros Ltd.

PN: Who will shoulder responsibility for such a serious blunder?

In a reaction, the Nationalist Party said it was incredible that the minister was defending the use of the gravel, and its procurement through a direct order, while admitting that a serious mistake may have been made. 

"Even more alarming is the fact that, for Minister Chris Bonett, it is as though nothing has happened at all", and that if the project fails, a remedy could simply be found.

"What Chris Bonett failed to tell us, is who will shoulder responsibility for such a serious blunder, and who will compensate the Maltese people for the taxpayers’ money spent on this mistake," the PN said.