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Matthew Vella
The Mediterranean Conference Centre has issued a garnishee order for over Lm22,000 against Welcomevents, the consortium which supplied the opening spectacular at the MCC for the Commonwealth’s Heads of Government Meeting in November 2005.
The garnishee order was issued after the MCC’s parquet flooring was damaged when water used for the CHOGM opening leaked out. The water curtain, onto which laser images were beamed during a dance spectacular, had been one of the main attractions of the spectacular which welcomed the Commonwealth’s heads of government and Queen Elizabeth II.
Welcomevents chairman Lou Bondì said MCC chairperson Peter Fenech’s order was “a silly overreaction.”
“Worse still, it is in clear violation of the gentlemen’s agreement reached between all the parties, including Ambassador Salv J Stellini on behalf of government, on the best way to proceed on the matter. All parties had agreed to go to arbitration and that is what Welcomevents will be doing.”
Chairman Peter Fenech yesterday said Welcomevents had not forwarded the MCC any assurance they would make good for any responsibility attributed to them. “Hence the need to protect MCC’s interests,” Fenech told MaltaToday. He did not quantify any of the expenses for the flooring. “The option to proceed in court or to arbitration is still available.”
The construction of the special stage ran into difficulties when no contractor was ready to build the stage for the Lm20,000 the CHOGM task force was ready to fork out for the stage. Tenderer Martin Pillow, from Pillowspaceframe, had commented the stage’s requirements were far too onerous for such a small amount of money.
A significant expense was the system used for the water curtain. The initial plan was to have powerful pumps draining the water raining from above, and pumping it back to the curtain jets on top. The organisers then settled for a simple draining system that would pump the water out, rather than pumping it back up to the curtain.
“In legal terms, the question of responsibility for the damages has not even arisen yet, let alone been answered,” Bondì said. “According to established procedures, there first has to be a Loss Adjusters Report before the matter even goes to arbitration. This report has not been completed yet.
“But the crucial point is that at this stage, on the advice of our insurance (UIB), Welcomevents has not even accepted liability. Even if we eventually do, however, we are fully insured as the tender itself required us to be,” Bondì said.
Bondì said the consortium’s lawyers were looking into the matter. Welcomevents is composed of Nexos Lighting, NNG Promotions, and Where’s Everybody.
mvella@mediatoday.com.mt
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