Prime Minister and Attorney General fail to submit copy of VGH evaluation report to court

The Prime Minister and the Attorney General failed to present a copy of the evaluation report about the Vitals Global Healthcare hospitals takeover deal in court.

In a decree handed down on Monday, Judge Francesco Depasquale said that as former minister Konrad Mizzi had made “extensive reference” to the report and had told the court that he had relied on it, “it would be opportune that this evaluation report, together with other, connected, reports be exhibited in these proceedings so that the truth of the facts stated by him [Mizzi] is verified and corroborated.”

In a sitting in November, Mizzi had sworn before the court that government had relied on the recommendation of an evaluation board before entering into its hospital privatisation deal with now-defunct Vitals Global Healthcare.

The case had been filed by PN leader Adrian Delia against Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, the Attorney General, Malta Industrial Parks and VGH, demanding that the Karin Grech, St Luke’s and Gozo hospitals be “given back to the people” because of contract violations.

“The government is one… if the executive cannot find a copy… if the Prime Minister doesn’t have a copy it’s his shortcoming. They must produce it. Not only the evaluation report but every report,” said Delia’s lawyer.

Asked by Judge Depasquale why the report was not presented this morning, lawyer Chris Falzon Scerri from the office of the Attorney General informed the court that the PM and AG do not have the evaluation report in their possession or other reports. The documentation is in the possession of Projects Malta, he said.

The court ordered the defendant to produce as a witness a representative of Projects Malta to exhibit the evaluation report mentioned by Konrad Mizzi as well as other reports connected to it on the next sitting, which will take place on 27 January.