Not Just Vitals: PL MP Recounts Queen Elizabeth’s Anger At 1960s Gozo Hospital Construction Scandal
With the Gozo General Hospital under the spotlight, PL MP Michael Farrugia has gone all the way back to the 1960s to recount how the building was born in scandal.
“We are once again witnessing insults within and outside the House,” Farrugia said in Parliament, referring to anger over the Vitals-Steward hospital contract.
“Some Opposition MPs are still young, but when they speak out it’s good for them to remember a few names and their connections with PN governments.”
Farrugia harked back to the 1960s, when the Gozo General Hospital was constructed and Queen Elizabeth II was invited to lay its foundation stone since the project was partially British-funded.
Back then, the PN was in government and Malta was in the process of moving from a colony to a republic.
Farrugia recounted how Reginald Maudling, a former Chancellor and Shadow Commonwealth Secretary, was embroiled in a scandal where it was revealed he had helped architect John Poulson obtain lucrative contracts in return for a chairmanship position on the board of one of Paulson’s companies.
“In 1966, Maudling accepted Poulson’s offer to chair one of his companies, and it is reported that he thanked him by helping the PN government of the 1960s pass the Gozo Hospital construction project to Poulson.”
“Queen Elizabeth II had attended the laying of the foundation stone, with the Prime Minister [Giorgio Borg Olivier] and Works Minister [Carmelo Caruana] in attendance. She was given a silver trowel as a memento but when she found out about investigations in the UK, she sent it back because she didn’t want to have anything to do with this filth that was going on at the Gozo Hospital.”
“Those who are now screaming about the Gozo Hospital should also speak about these things, because it’s good to speak about everything.”
In his speech, Farrugia also recounted other infrastructure-related scandals involving previous PN governments, including Mater Dei and Fort Chambray.
“People often ask why no action was taken against these people, but before the PL got into government, there was a prescription law which prohibited criminal action from being taken after a certain amount of time had passed,” he added.
However, Farrugia didn’t have anything to say about the Vitals-Steward deal itself, which was annulled by court order last week following a case filed by PN MP and former leader Adrian Delia.
Cover photo: Left: PL MP Michael Farrugia, Right: Queen Elizabeth II laying the first stone of the Gozo Hospital in the 1960s. (Photo: Louis Cardona/Pinterest).
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