A second company has raised the alarm about an "abnormally low" €600 million bid to build and operate a massive waste-to-energy plant in Magħtab.
FCC Medio Ambiente has joined in an appeal for the tender to be cancelled, a week after another bidder, Hitachi-Zosen Inova AG - Terna S.A, cried foul about the multi-million euro Wasteserv tender.
FCC Medio Ambiente placed a bid with a value of €830 million, while Hitachi's offer came in at €781 million.
Both bids were significantly higher than the €600 million offer by French company Paprec, which formed a consortium with local construction firm Bonnici Brothers.
The people behind Bonnici Brothers have in the past been involved in several property deals with Prime Minister Robert Abela.
'Impossible'
In their appeal, FCC Medio Ambiente said it is "impossible" that the project described in the tender can be carried out for €600 million.
"It is evident that this offer is based on technically, economically and, or legally unsound assumptions or practices", FFC Medio Ambiente said.
It argued that the contracting authority is legally obliged to investigate whether the bid was abnormally low, and has a duty to assess whether the €600 million offer is economically sustainable.
FCC Medio Ambiente said Paprec's bid was 25% lower than the average of the other two bids.
The company also pokes holes in the "extremely superficial manner" in which the technical assessment of the three competing bids was carried out.
It said it was "inconceivable" that all three bids received full marks for almost all the technical criteria set out in the tender, and therefore have almost equivalent strengths and weaknesses.
FCC Medio Ambiente said it is a major player in the waste-to-energy sector, and it submitted a detailed offer, with a focus on best technologies and equipment.
"Offering an optimal solution of course requires significant investments and FCC's financial offer was reflective of this," the company said.
Wasteserv defends tender
On Thursday, Wasteserv insisted the tender was above board.
Wasteserv said that throughout the tender process, it had been guided by the best practices in public procurement and principles of good governance to ensure a transparent award.
The state waste management entity said it had engaged UK consultants Frith Resource Management to audit the entire procurement procedure from the very first stage up to the evaluation of the submitted bids.
In its concluding assessment, Frith Resource Management concurred with WasteServ and said “the procurement has been undertaken in a timely, efficient and equitable manner”.
It confirmed the recommendation to award the multimillion project to Paprec Energies International – BBL Malta, Wasteserv said.