Committee Appointed To Scrutinise Vitals Hosptial Deal, Abela Says, Promising Results In The Coming Weeks
A committee has already been appointed to scrutinise the controversial Vitals Global Healthcare hospital deal, Prime Minister Robert Abela has revealed, promising to deliver a result within the coming weeks.
“I want a stocktake of the entire situation, every agreement that was signed,” Abela told a rally in Qormi.
The committee is composed of representatives from the civil service, Health Ministry, and Finance Minister. However, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna is currently subject to a magisterial inquiry over his involvement in the allegedly corrupt deal.
Abela said that the committee will work on four basic principles: “in the interest of health, the interest of the country, the interest of finances, and the interest of integrity, honesty, and transparency.”
“Transparency on every decision if the way forward. You have the right to scrutinise every decision, this is the vision for the country moving forward,” Abela said.
Yesterday, PN Leader Adrian Delia published the evaluation report into the deal, which revealed that a person on the three-man panel to assess the agreement was a Nexia BT representative. The accountancy firm opened up secret offshore companies for Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri; while they have also received millions in direct orders.
“The government has kept this document hidden to hide its own premeditated theft… I have already said this: this was a plan to earn millions from a premeditated failure,” Delia said.
Abela, who was speaking in his home town of Qormi, left one biting remark for the embattled PN leader.
“I don’t need invitations from Delia to show me what good governance is. Believe me, he is the last person who should be teaching such lessons,” Abela said.
He kicked off his address by insisting that Malta had returned to a state of normality, less than three weeks after former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was made to resign after his office was linked to the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
It has not been plain sailing for Abela either. Former Gozo Minister Justyne Caruana was made to resign. At the same time, there are renewed calls for Education Minister Owen Bonnici to pay the political price after he was found by the courts to have breached the fundamental rights of protestors.
Meanwhile, Konrad Mizzi dubious EU nomination and 80,000 euro consultancy contract brought renewed action. And while Abela has taken action, former Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar was handed a 31,000 euro consultancy just days after resigning.
When it came to policy, Abela highlighted four keys areas, the environment, gender quotas, immigration, and the IIP scheme.
Abela reiterated the Labour Party’s regularly mocked 2013 pledge to “truly make the environment a priority”, insisting that Malta remained committed to getting an improved EU budget (which hangs in the balance) to begin implementing green measures.
The funds, he said, are also needed to help Malta handle the immigration issue, insisting that the rest of Europe had left Mediterranean countries to shoulder the burden of the crisis.
“We cannot close our ports because there are people who need help, but it is not just our problem,” Abela said.
He once again committed himself to introduce a gender quota mechanism by the next general election, insisting it was vital to reduce a “severe democratic deficit” in the country.
When it came to IIP, Malta’s controversial passport selling scheme, Abela said the programme was here to say, even quoting anonymous PN figures who are in favour of the scheme.
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