The new shooting range at Ta’ Kandja, in the limits of Siġġiewi, has cost in the region of €14 million, double the original estimate, the Times of Malta is informed.

Most of the infrastructural works on the multimillion-euro facility were carried out without the normal public call for tenders, industry sources noted. Instead of following public procurement rules, Sport Malta, the government’s agency responsible for the project, bypassed the system and dished out about 25 direct orders to a few private companies, they added.

The government justified the many direct orders, some running into millions of euros, saying they were “due to urgency”.

Documents show that nearly all the contracts for infrastructural works were allocated through direct orders, with Sport Malta choosing which companies should be engaged.

Road builders Bonnici Brothers received more than €5 million in works, including the building of a €2.3 million backstop and the €1.7 million installation of artificial turf.

The intention to build a range was announced in May 2017... This is just ridiculous

Bava Holdings, a company whose shareholders also own Construct Furniture of Luqa, also benefitted from direct orders. It was engaged in a raft of works ranging from the supply of tiling and sanitary ware to excavation and mechanical and electrical installations.

Sources close to Sport Malta termed the list of direct orders issued on one project a “record breaker”. They also deemed it to be rather odd that the budget had been exceeded to such an extent, given that this was not a very complicated project.

The sources said that while the Education Ministry, which was politically responsible for the project, had used the “urgency” card to justify the direct orders, the government had known of the need for such a sports facility for at least three years.

The government had known of the need for such a sports facility for at least three years

“In a press release issued in September 2015, the International Shooting Sport Federation announced that Malta was to hold a World Cup in 2018. The government was consulted by the local federation before it put in its bid, and thus, the government cannot state that the works to build a range were urgent. This is just ridiculous,” the sources commented.

The government’s intention to build a state-of-the-art shooting range was announced in May 2017, when the country was in full-on electoral mode.

During a Labour Party press conference as part of the electoral campaign, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat pledged that if Labour were returned to power, it would build a shooting range in time for the hosting of the World Cup last June.

Dr Muscat said that the range, over 90 acres of land, was estimated to cost €7 million.

Shooting range direct orders