The manner through which a number of public-private partnerships have been implemented to date raise serious suspicions of fraud and corruption. There is a need for sound regulation and its consistent implementation to ensure good governance in these types of projects. ADPD-The Green Party Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo made this point during a press conference addressed together with Deputy Chairperson Sandra Gauci with reference to the court judgment regarding the Government’s hospitals’ concessions.

ADPD Deputy Chairperson Sandra Gauci said that following the court judgment regarding the hospitals concessions there was a clear case where one is trying to the shift the blame onto others – with the former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat stating that it was a Cabinet decision and Evarist Bartolo declaring that the Cabinet was not aware of the dealings. Following Judge Depasquale’s sentence as well as the Auditor General’s reports on the concessions ADPD insists that all public contracts awarded during Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s tenure, in particular those involving Konrad Mizzi, Chris Cardona and Keith Schembri are to be investigated thoroughly.

Gauci also referred to a report in the press some months ago that had revealed that substantial payments had been made to Joseph Muscat by a foreign company close to Steward Healthcare. The explanations made to justify the said payments as being the result of consultancy work carried out by Joseph Muscat after the end of his time as Prime Minister are not credible. Such payments should be investigated in detail because they can uncover the real truth of what has been happening.

Gauci also called upon both the Attorney General Victoria Buttigieg and the Commissioner of Police Angelo Gafa to do their duty and take the necessary action with respect to those who it is clear put their personal interest before that of the nation. The evidence coming out of the Court last week is more than damning enough for them to be able to act. What are they waiting for? asked Gauci.

ADPD Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo said the evidence presented in the court case relating to the hospitals’ concessions to Vitals Global Healthcare, later transferred to Steward Healthcare, is a prime example of bad governance, fraud and clear suspicion of corruption that have dominated the whole process since inception. The Court decision indeed reaffirmed the conclusions detailed in  two reports published by the Auditor General in 2020 and 2021.

The Auditor General had revealed how, Vitals Global Healthcare had presented a bank guarantee drawn up before the call had been made public – clear evidence of an underhand agreement with this company. The Auditor General had not minced his words when he stated that Vitals Global Healthcare should not even have been considered and indeed it should have been disqualified and its submissions ignored.

The Auditor General had drawn attention repeatedly as to what had taken place but the Government failed to take the action one would have expected of it. The reason for this lack of action is now clear: Government had been party to this fraud all along!

In light of all this Cacopardo stated that one has to consider the fundamental logic of such agreements and ask whether public-private partnerships, especially in a sensitive area such as health, should even be considered.

He mentioned a number of projects about which serious suspicion of fraud and corruption had been raised: besides that for the hospital concessions there was the Delimara Power Station and the Saint Vincent de Paul residence in Luqa, about which there were also voluminous reports drawn up by the Auditor General.

PPPs are an economic model that have been abused of, with the use of the private sector as a smokescreen. If we want to encourage the partnership and positive contribution of the private sector to public projects there is the need for sound regulation and its consistent implementation to ensure good governance throughout the whole process, from its inception to its implementation. In the absence of this the consequences are now clear for all to see: a cacophony of confusion, fraud and corruption, concluded Cacopardo.

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Proġetti ta’ sħubija mal-privat bla regolamentazzjoni huma kalamita għall-korruzzjoni

Il-mod li bih ġew implimentati uħud mill-proġetti ta’ sħubija mal-privat sal-lum serva biex jitnisslu dubji serji dwar frodi u korruzzjoni. Hemm bżonn regolamentazzjoni ċara u applikazzjoni konsistenti tar-regoli biex tkun assigurata governanza tajba f’proġetti ta’ dan it-tip. Hekk insista iċ-Chairperson ta’ ADPD – The Green Party, Carmel Cacopardo meta indirizza konferenza tal-aħbarijiet mad-Deputat Chairperson Sandra Gauci dwar l-eżitu mill-kawża tal-konċessjoni tal-Gvern dwar t  l-isptarijiet pubbliċi.

Id-Deputat Chairperson ta’ ADPD – The Green Party Sandra Gauci qalet li jekk kien hemm każ ċar ta’ fejn il-ħmar qiegħed jipprova jwaħħal f’denbu kien l-eżitu mill-kawża tal-konċessjoni tal-isptarijiet fejn kellek lill-ex-Prim Ministru Joseph Muscat jgħid li kien il-Kabinett li iddeċieda u lil Varist Bartolo jgħid li l-Kabinett tħalla fil-għama. Fid-dawl ta’ dak li rriżulta kemm mis-sentenza tal-Imħallef Depasquale kif ukoll mir-rapporti tal-Awditur Ġenerali dwar l-istess suġġett ADPD jinsisti li kwalunkwe kuntratt pubbliku mogħti mill-Gvern fiż-żmien li Joseph Muscat kien Prim Ministru u in partikolari dawk li fihom kienu involuti persuni bħal Konrad Mizzi, Chris Cardona u Keith Schembri għandhom jiġu eżaminati bir-reqqa.

Gauci irreferiet għar-rapport fil-media lokali xi xhur ilu li kien juri li saru pagamenti sostanzjali lil Joseph Muscat minn kumpanija barranija viċin ta’ Steward Health Care. L-ispjegazzjoni li ngħatat li din kienet frott ta’ konsulenza wara li hu spiċċa mill-kariga ta’ Prim Ministru mhix waħda kredibbli. Pagamenti ta’ din ix-xorta għandhom ikunu investigati bir-reqqa għax jistgħu jitfgħu dawl sostanzjali fuq dak li verament għaddej.

Gauci appellat biex kemm l-Avukat Ġenerali Victoria Buttigieg kif ukoll il-Kummissarju tal-Pulizija Angelo Gafa jagħmlu xogħolhom u jieħdu azzjoni fejn huwa ċar li hemm min għandu l-interessi ta’ butu l-ewwel qabel dawk tal-pajjiż. B’dakli ħareġ mill-qrati tagħna l-ġimgħa l-oħra għandhom iktar minn biżżejjed informazzjoni biex jieħdu l-azzjoni neċessarji. X’qegħdin jistennew? saqsiet Gauci.

Iċ-Chairperson ta’ ADPD Carmel Cacopardo qal li kif ħareġ mill-kawża tal-isptarijiet mgħoddija lil Vitals Global Healthcare u wara lil Steward Healthcare, dan kien każ klassiku ta’ governanza ħażina, frodi u suspetti fondati ta’ korruzzjoni li irrenjaw tul il-proċess kollu tal-konċessjoni tal-isptarijiet sa mill-bidu nett tiegħu. Id-deċiżjoni tal-qorti filfatt ikkonfermat il-konklużjonijiet ta’ żewġ rapporti tal-Awditur Ġenerali fl-2020 u l=2021.

L-Awditur Ġenerali kien saħansitra żvela kif qabel ma kienet ħarġet is-sejħa għal proposti dwar il-konċessjoni, il-Vitals Global Healthcare diġa kellhom  lesta garanzija bankarja datata qabel ma biss ġiet ippubblikata is-sejħa  – evidenza mill-iktar ċara ta’ ftehim minn qabel u bil-moħbi ma din il-kumpanija. L-Awditur Ġenerali ma kienx qagħad jogħmodha meta qal li l-Vitals Global Healthcare misshom lanqas biss ġew ikkunsidrati u kellhom ikunu skwalifikati u s-sottomissjonijiet tagħhom injorati.

L-Awditur Ġenerali kien wissa aktar minn darba dwar x’kien ġara u il-Gvern naqas li jieħu l-azzjoni li wieħed kien jistenna li għandha tittieħed. Naturalment illum huwa iktar evidenti għaliex kien hemm din in-nuqqas ta’ azzjoni min-naħa tal-Gvern: huwa kien parteċipi f’din il-ħadma mill-bidu nett!

Cacopardo qal li filwaqt li hemm dan kollu wieħed ma jistgħax jinjora il-prinċipji fundamentali u jistaqsi jekk dawn it-tip ta’ konċessjonijiet ta’ sħubija bejn il-privat u l-Gvern jagħmlux sens f’qasam sensittiv bħalma huwa dak tas-saħħa.

Kellna diversi proġetti b’tisħib simili mal-privat li dwarhom tqajmu suspetti fondati ta’ frodi u korruzzjoni: apparti dan il-kaz tal-isptarijiet hemm dak tal-Power Station ta’ Delimara u r-residenza ta’ San Vinċenz de Paul f’Ħal Luqa li dwarhom ukoll hemm rapporti voluminużi bl-investigazzjonijiet tal-Awditur Ġenerali.

Dan huwa mudell ekonomika li tħaddem b’mod abbużiv u b’użu tas-settur privat bħala paraventu. Jekk irridu li s-settur privat jissieħeb u jikkontribbwixxi b’mod validu fi proġetti pubbliċi hemm bżonn li jkun hemm regolamentazzjoni ċara ta’ dawn it-tip ta’proġetti u applikazzjoni konsistenti tar-regoli biex tkun assigurata governanza tajba tul il-proċess kollu: mill-bidu nett sal-implimentazzjoni tiegħu. In-nuqqas ta’ dan jibqa’ jħalli il-konsegwenzi li qegħdin naraw: balbuljata ta’ konfużjoni, frodi u korruzzjoni, temm jgħid Cacopardo.