Waqt konferenza tal-aħbarijiet, Sandra Gauci, iċ-Chairperson ta’ ADPD-The Green Party u Mario Mallia Deputat Segretarju Ġenerali ta’ ADPD-The Green Party sostnew li l-verdett tal-ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) huwa ċertifikat ta’ inkompetenza, kontradizzjonijiet u ħabi.  

Kuntrarjament għal dak li qed jipprova jimplika l-Gvern, il-verdett tal-ICC ma jħassar xejn miż-żewg sentenzi tal-Qorti Maltija fuq il-kuntratt ma’ Steward li l-Qorti ddeskriviethom bħala frawdulenti u mnawra b’kolluzzjoni minn membri tal-Gvern.  Id-deċizjoni tal-ICC ma tħassar xejn mill-fatt li Joseph Muscat, Konrad Mizzi u persuni oħra, għadhom għaddejjin proċeduri kriminali fil-konfront tagħhom fuq il-kwistjoni.  ADPD-The Green Party nsistiet li mhux talli d-deċizjoni tal-ICC ma tnaqqas xejn minn dan il-fatt, talli saħansitra l-ICC bniet id-deċizjoni tagħha fuq l-istess deċiżjoni tal-qrati Maltin li annullaw dan il-ftehim.    

Il-kelliema sostnew li kuntrarjament għal dak li qiegħed jagħti x’jifhem il-gvern, id-deċiżjoni tal-ICC ma tnaqqas xejn mill-fatt li l-konċessjoni kienet tiffavorixxi lil Steward.  Il-ftehim sigriet li ffirma Konrad Mizzi li permezz tiegħu il-Gvern intrabat li jħallas 100 miljun Euro, f’każ li l-kuntratt jintemm, huwa xhieda ta’ dan.    

Il-Gvern għadu jrid jispjega l-kontradizzjoni li daħal fiha meta wara s-sentenza tal-ICC jgħid li minn Steward il-pajjiż ħa l-valur ta’ dak li ħallas, u mill-banda l-oħra, waqt is-sottomissjonijiet quddiem l-ICC, l-istess Gvern insista għal kumpens ta’ kważi nofs biljun Euro għaliex Steward naqsu mill-obligazzjonijiet li kellhom fil-kuntratt.    

Il-Gvern għadu jrid jispjega wkoll kif filwaqt li kien jaf li kien hemm ksur tal-kuntratt minn Steward, baqa’ jħallas lil Steward, u saħansitra, pubblikament baqa’ jiddefendi l-konċessjoni.  Il-fatt innifsu li l-Gvern ma ħax passi fuq il-ksur tal-kuntratt, ikkomprometta l-pożizzjoni tal-Gvern Malti fl-ICC tant li dan l-atteġjament intuża kontra Malta stess.  Huwa evidenti li l-Gvern kien għamel deċiżjoni konxja li jgħatti u jipproteġi l-frejjeġ li kienu għamlu Joseph Muscat, Konrad Mizzi u oħrajn, flok jiddefendi l-interessi ta’ Malta.  Biex il-gvern ma jxellifhiex man-nies ta’ ġewwa,  minn jeddu, poġġa lilu nnifsu f’pożizzjoni ta’ ostaġġ ta’ Steward u b’hekk ikkomprometta l-pożizzjoni tal-pajjiż.    

Dan kollu jimplika li kieku ma kienx hemm il-proċeduri fil-qrati Maltin, il-Gvern kien ikollu diffikulta` kbira biex jinħall mill-kuntratt ma’ Steward, għax sal-aħħar, baqa’ jiddefendi l-konċessjoni u jgħid li kollox kien miexi fuq ir-rubini.  Kieku l-konċessjoni ma ġietx annullata mill-qrati Maltin, l-emoreġija ta’ miljuni ta’ ewro kienet tkompli għaddejja qisu qatt ma kien xejn, f’tentattiv biex il-Gvern ikompli jipproteġi lin-nies tiegħu.    

Il-kelliema sostnew ukoll li l-Gvern għandu jispjega wkoll kontradizzjoni oħra fejn fuq naħa baqa’ jinsisti li l-488 miljun Euro dovuti lill-Gvern kienu ħrafa u fl-istess nifs għamel każ quddiem l-ICC biex l-istess l-488 miljun Euro jeħodhom lura.  Kieku dan l-ammont kien biss frott ta’ fantażija, kieku l-Gvern stess ma kienx jibqa’ jistinka fl-ICC biex il-flus jintraddu lura.  L-iskuża tal-Gvern li baqa’ jinsisti fuq l-488 miljun Euro għal raġunijiet proċedurali hija rħisa, meta jitqies li kien il-Gvern stess li ħa l-intrigu li jippreżenta rendikont iddettaljat fuq kif wasal għall-figura ta’ 488 miljun Euro.  

Il-Gvern għandu jispjega wkoll għalfejn nies li innegozjaw u ħadmu l-konċessjoni min-naħa tal-gvern, ma ttellgħux jixhdu mill-Gvern stess, tant li l-ICC ikkummentat li fil-proċess, kien hemm nuqqas ta’ xhieda relevanti (“lack of relevant testimonies”).  Hu ovvju li dan l-atteġjament konxju kien iddettat minn kemm il-Gvern kellu x’jaħbi u kemm kellu lil min jipproteġi.    

Huwa ta’ għajb li l-Gvern jibqa’ jinsisti li ma kienx hemm rebbieħ ċar meta l-istess ICC iddikjarat iswed fuq l-abjad li wieħed mill-vittmi primarji tal-falliment ta’ din il-konċessjoni kienu ċ-ċittadini Maltin.    

Fid-dawl ta’ dan kollu, ADPD-The Green Party sostniet li f’ġieħ it-trasparenza u l-etika, il-Gvern, tal-inqas, għandu jammetti d-diżastru li ħalliet warajha din il-kwistjoni, jitlob apoloġija lill-poplu u jiżgura li min kien f’kollużjoni f’konċessjoni ddikjarata mill-qrati bhala frawdolenti, jieħu dak li jixraqlu.        

***  

Government should admit to the disastrous hospitals’ concession and apologise to the people 

During a press conference, Sandra Gauci, ADPD-The Green Party Chairperson, and Mario Mallia, Deputy Secretary General, asserted that the verdict of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is a certificate of incompetence, contradictions, and a lack of transparency.    

ADPD-The Green Party contends that contrary to what the government is implying, the ICC verdict does not annul the two previous sentences that the Maltese court passed regarding Steward, describing the agreement as fraudulent and tainted through collusion with government officials.  The ICC decision does not cancel the fact that Joseph Muscat, Konrad Mizzi, and other persons are still involved in criminal proceedings in relation to the issue.  ADPD-The Green Party insists that not only has the ICC verdict not repealed this fact, it has also based its decision on the annulment of the agreement granted by the Maltese courts     

The speakers also said that contrary to what is being communicated by the government, the ICC decision confirmed that the concession clearly favoured Steward.  The secret agreement signed by Konrad Mizzi, in which the government was bound to pay 100 million Euro if the contract was terminated, is evidence of this.    

The government has yet to explain the contradictory claims being made after the ICC sentence said that Malta has been given fair value for what was paid to Steward, whilst during submissions to ICC, the same government insisted for compensation to the tune of nearly half a billion euro, because as according to the government, Steward failed its contractual obligations.       

The government has yet to explain as to why Steward being paid at all while it knew that there were breaches of contract and yet at the same time it was defending the concession.  The fact that the government itself failed to take action with regard to the breach of contract compromised the government’s very own position, so much so that this fact was used by the ICC against Malta’s claim for compensation.    It is evident that the government took decisions to consciously cover up the mess that Joseph Muscat, Konrad Mizzi and others made instead of defending Malta’s interests.  Given a choice to defend Malta or the Labour Party in government, the government chose to defend its own corruption.  In order not to antagonise the inner circle, the government deliberately masqueraded as a hostage to Steward’s demands and as a result compromised the position of Malta vis-a-vis the concession.       

This implies that if it were not for the annulment by the Maltese courts, it would have been difficult for the Maltese government to break away from its contract with Stewart, and it must be kept in mind that the same government was defending the concession to the end, insisting that everything was in order.   Had it not been for the annulment by the Maltese courts, millions more would have been lost, all for the sake of protecting the very people responsible for this concession.    

The speakers also contended that the government should explain its contradictions, first denying the owed sum of 488 million Euro and then making a case at ICC to recoup the same sum of money.  If this amount of money had been a figment of somebody’s imagination, the government would not have made the attempt to claim this sum of money through the ICC.