PN asks Auditor General to probe botched Magħtab incinerator tender

The Nationalist Party has asked the National Audit Office to investigate the €600 million Magħtab incinerator tender, which was annulled by the court in June

PN MPs (from left) Graham Bencini, Darren Carabott and Claudette Buttigieg outside the NAO after presenting their request for the Magħtab tender to be investigated
PN MPs (from left) Graham Bencini, Darren Carabott and Claudette Buttigieg outside the NAO after presenting their request for the Magħtab tender to be investigated

The Nationalist Party has asked the Auditor General to investigate the planned Magħtab incinerator project, which tender was recently annulled by the civil court.

PN MPs Graham Bencini, Darren Carabott and Claudette Buttigieg, who sit on parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, on Tuesday presented their request to the Auditor General.

They are asking that the National Audit Office probe the process by which the €600 million tender was awarded.

The Appeals Court annulled the Magħtab incinerator tender last month and ordered that the bids be adjudicated anew because members of the adjudicating and revision boards at the Contracts Department had a conflict of interest.

The Magħtab incinerator is a crucial component in Malta’s waste management strategy since it will help reduce the dependence on landfilling for non-recyclable waste.

The PN’s request was also signed by shadow environment minister Rebekah Borg and climate change spokesperson Eve Borg Bonello.

The request was filed following a decision taken by the PN parliamentary group.

“The PN will keep on insisting that people should have peace of mind that their money is being spent in a responsible way and all residents enjoy a clean and healthy environment,” the PN spokespersons said.

In a statement, WasteServ welcomed the Opposition’s request for the NAO audit.

WasteServ said it had engaged leading global engineering firm COWI, which ranks first internationally in solid waste management consultancy services, and UK-based consultancy firm Frith Resource Management, to independently audit the entire €600 million procurement procedure right up to the evaluation of the submitted bids

“Frith’s report confirmed that the recommended award, and the procurement process, were conducted in a fair, equitable and just manner,” WasteServ said.

“In fact, the Court of Appeal’s judgment did not take issue with the procedure adopted by WasteServ to rank bidders or the scoring issued therein — which was green-lighted by the best international players in the field — but concentrated solely on what it deemed as perceived conflicts of interest related to the Public Contracts Review Board.”

WasteServ now awaits direction from the NAO to deliver the procurement file in full as soon as it is requested to do so. The file, containing 47 individual box-files, is still sealed under signatures since the day it was deposited in Court on 27 March, 2024.

“WasteServ will cooperate fully with the NAO office,” the company said, adding that the proposed project had already been subjected to all the required environmental studies which confirmed the net environmental positive impacts it would have.

WasteServ also reiterated the outstanding results attained by the Maltese public — household recycling figures increased by 266% over the last 10 years, household black bag decreased in total by 31.5%, and organic waste collection and conversion into energy are at the highest ever recorded levels.