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Reference is made to the article entitled “Insider Trading” by Anna Mallia in Maltatoday of 10 December 2006 and in particular to that part, which made reference to tenders called by Land Department.
For the benefit of the writer and the readers of Maltatoday, the Land Department would like to point out the following facts:
1. All tenders submitted are placed by tenderer himself/herself in a tender box through a non-return slit at its top.
2. The inside of the tender box is only accessible from the back through an opening secured by two locks, the keys of which are kept one at the Land Department and the other at the Contracts Committee.
3. The tender box is opened just after the prescribed closing date and time by a three member board, one from the Land Department, another from the Estate Management Department and a third from the Contracts Committee. All tenders submitted are instantly initialled by all three members and inserted in relevant file for posterity.
4. The opening of the tender box and the relevant tenders is carried out in full view of the attending public.
5. A list of the tenderers with relevant details is immediately drawn up and posted on the Notice Board for public viewing.
6. The adjudication process comprises reference of the whole file (including submitted tenders) to the Contracts Committee for its approval or otherwise.
The case referred to by Anna Mallia is still being adjudicated and hence no direct reference can be made to it; however the Land Department can assure her that in this case, being a tender wherein tenderers were asked to state proposed purpose, the Land Department did not even have an architect’s advice on the acceptable minimum amount. Moreover, this is not the first time that two submitted tenders (and not necessarily including the highest and second placed) differentiated from each other by a small amount such as one Malta Liri, fifty cents and even ten cents. Land Department definitely does not have any control on the bids submitted, and hence on the difference between them.
Joe Azzopardi
Communications Coordinator
Ministry for Justice and Home Affairs
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