Labour’s third consecutive landslide general election victory has gone to the head of some cabinet members who are considering themselves above criticism
For the umpteenth time, Maltese taxpayers have been swindled out of hundreds of millions of euros due to malfeasance in public procurement.
The National Audit Office released a 117-page report slamming St Vincent de Paul Residence for breaching procurement law. The long-term care facility awarded a hefty direct order of €274 million, through a negotiated procedure undertaken directly with a consortium formed between a db Group subsidiary and James Catering Ltd, for the building and operation of a kitchen and four residential blocks accommodating 504 residents.
The government refused to publish the controversial contract that was entered into on November 14, 2017, under the pretext of commercial secrecy.
The auditor general has accused catering company James Caterers of trying to intimidate and influence an investigation into a controversial contract at a state home for the elderly.
In a letter to the National Audit Office, James Catering Ltd warned it would hold NAO officers personally responsible for any reputational damage from an audit into two tenders linked to the Saint Vincent de Paul facility.
The NAO is assessing a 2015 tender that began as a request for meals and a kitchen at the Luqa home and morphed into a second project to extend the facility.
It was won by a consortium that includes James Caterers and another firm that forms part of the DB group.