Letters • November 30 2003

Mater Dei Hospital Project – Victim of a misinformation campaign

Rene H Formosa
President, Foundation for Medical Services

BirkirkaraYour editorial relating to the Mater Deir Hospital project published on Sunday 23 November 2003, merits a response in the interests of encouraging fair and factual reporting. The information provided to your paper does not reflect what is really happening on site.
I have obtained consolidated information from the main contractor, Skanska Malta JV, the FMS Cost Controllers, and the FMS Project Manager on site, the people best suited to comment on the allegations appearing in your editorial. As a taxpayer you will no doubt be pleased to know that the information provided to you, contains four unsupported allegations. It appears that these allegations are based on testimony from professionals having no axe to grind. On behalf of the FMS Board I wish to put on record the following facts for benefit of your readers.
Your editorial speaks of motionless tower cranes. You should be aware that the FMS through its technical people, together with the contractor, Skanska Malta Joint Venture, regularly review both the number and period of deployment of each tower crane working on site. These reviews have confirmed that the cranes provide the most economic means of lifting, on site. Two cranes currently not in use either for logistical or maintenance reasons are ‘off hire’ and not being paid for by FMS. More importantly, the number of cranes on site is proportionate to the extent of the project.
All sub-contractors entered into by Skanska Malta Join Venture for the hospital project are concluded on a ‘piecework’ basis. In other words they are paid for the job and not for the time it takes to complete it. The ‘phantom workers’ you mention, are therefore either cheating themselves or their employers. Most certainly they are not cheating the FMS or, for that matter, the Malta Government.
Your editorial apparently fails to recognise the size and complexity of the Mater Deir Hospital project, which will become Malta’s only acute, general, and teaching hospital. On such a large and complex project, possibly the largest hospital project in Europe, management has to be dynamic in responding to the changing needs of the project. I have been assured that as the project moves through construction and into fitting out stages, managerial changes are made that are both appropriate and necessary.
Your editorial appears equally ill informed on the matter of the project’s overall duration. Again, such a large and complex project requires an optimum amount of time to be completed. This consideration led the Foundation for Medical Services and Skanska Malta Joint Venture to agree on the most appropriate construction period at the time that the contract was signed. May I mention that there are also other extraneous circumstances not dependant on FMS and Contractor input or control, that have a direct bearing on the completion of the project – a realisation, which I am confident both the FMS and yourself are eager to accomplish with the least possible delay.
This response attempts to correct misconceptions which the information provided to your newspaper may have provoked.
Editors note: Mr Formosa is a newcomer to the world of contracts, mega projects and white elephants. The information we carried in our editorial was based on information passed on to us from individuals who worked on the project