Ta’ Qali gravel works cost €311,000, carried out by direct order and without permits, FOI shows

A controversial gravel project at Ta’ Qali cost more than €311,000 and was carried out through a direct order without environmental permits or an impact assessment, according to documents released through a Freedom of Information request filed by political party Momentum.

The FOI response shows that the government spent €311,141.80 on the imported gravel, which covered an estimated 30,000 square metres of public land. The works were awarded directly to Bonnici Bros Ltd, with authorities citing procurement rule PPN 321b2, allowing a direct order because the contractor was “already carrying out works within the same area”.

No public tender was issued.

The documents also confirm that the material was imported from Greece, a detail that was independently reaffirmed in a one-page declaration tabled in parliament on Wednesday. Momentum said this means that hundreds of thousands of euros in public funds were spent overseas instead of supporting Maltese suppliers.

Environmental oversight was also bypassed. According to the FOI reply, no permits were issued by the Environment and Resources Authority, and no Environmental Impact Assessment was carried out despite the importation of around 5,000 tonnes of non-native rock mixture.

Authorities justified the lack of permitting by claiming the works formed part of “ongoing maintenance” of the Ta’ Qali picnic area and therefore did not trigger environmental requirements.

Momentum secretary general Mark Camilleri Gambin criticised the project as unnecessary, costly, and handled without proper scrutiny. “By labelling this major expense as routine ‘maintenance,’ authorities have conveniently sidestepped environmental scrutiny and competitive tendering,” he said. “Let’s think where this money could have been better spent: healthcare, education, scholarships, or people in need.”

Momentum said it is evaluating further action and is calling for full transparency on how public funds and environmental safeguards were sidestepped in what it described as the “Ta’ Qali gravel scandal”.