Watch: Adrian Delia Breaks Down How He Arrived At Famous €400 Million Figure
PN MP Adrian Delia explained how he arrived at the famous €400 million figure, which the PN has long claimed Steward stole from public funds.
Interviewed on Jon Mallia’s show Il-Każin, Delia said that a NAO report found the government paid Steward and its predecessor Vitals €268 million between 2016 and 2021.
This is over and above the €188 million it paid for staff salaries in that same period.
Delia then added this €268 million to the €69 million and €79 million that were dedicated to Steward over and above salaries in the next two Budgets, amounting to a total of over €400 million.
An International Chamber of Commerce Tribunal found that Steward received a total of €885 million from the government over the duration of the contract. Meanwhile, the government received benefits of up to €889 million.
Prime Minister Robert Abela said that every cent of that €885 million has been accounted for in terms of medical services provided by Steward over the years.
He stressed that the government never paid Steward to redevelop the hospitals or invest in medical tourism, insisting that the company was responsible for securing its own independent funding.
Asked if he can confirm or deny whether all the public funds that Steward received have been accounted for, Delia said the government must answer that question.
“I don’t know what this money was spent on,” he said. “The government must answer this question but it doesn’t want to.”
“However, it will have to respond eventually because I’m going to keep on stressing for detailed breakdown of what this €900 million was spent on.”
Photo: Il-Każin