‘Unacceptable that Sant’s primary loyalty was to contractor’ – Prime Minister

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has commented on the revelations published in MaltaToday on Sunday, that a former Malta Resources Authority director, Godwin Sant, was breaching state confidentiality by passing on MRA board minutes and draft laws to oil trader George Farrugia.

“We are discovering new things about the oil scandal every week. What was revealed today was incredibly worrying, where Sant sent George Farrugia a draft law before sending it to the minister.

“Beyond the presidential pardon and the oil scandal, it shows the long years of excessive confidences taken under the previous government. Our country’s institutions must be held accountable. There are huge issues of political responsibility that must be shouldered after the investigations have been concluded,” Muscat said.

“We can’t brush off these things as having come from a previous administration. It’s unacceptable for a person working in the government to have his primary loyalty to a contractor, rather than the country. Decisions of oil sales must be taken on the spot and there are exceptions to public procurement. We appointed an observer, Michael Falzon, on the oil procurement committee because we wanted to send a message that the way things work in this country have changed once and for all.”

The prime minister is addressing his party’s general conference today.