Public land passed to company without tender

The agreement, signed 11 years ago and valid till 2013, surfaced in a MaltaToday probe on the use of a public borehole by International Safety Training Centre Ltd a subsidiary of Alberta Holdings.

It turned out that the company was pumping water from a borehole belonging to the CPD to fill a pool used for training course by the company.

When asked on whether this activity was permitted by the CPD, Director  Patrick Murgo referred to an agreement between the Civil Protection Department and the private company which enabled the latter to operate in the CPD’s Hal Far grounds.  But according to Murgo, this agreement did not cover the extraction of ground water and that this activity had been stopped.

Subsequently, MaltaToday asked the Ministry for Finance for details on this agreement, asking specifically whether a call for tenders had ever been issued as is usually done in cases involving the use of public land.

The Ministry spokesperson made it clear that the lands department was not involved in this agreement.

“The agreement is a private agreement entered upon between Civil Protection and International Safety Training Centre Limited, where this department was not involved”.

The Ministry spokesperson added that it was up to Civil Protection to decide whether they want to divulge information about this agreement.

Replying to MaltaToday’s questions, the CPD revealed that the agreement was signed through a notarial deed between Safety Training Centre (Malta) Limited and the Civil Protection Department, on behalf of the Government of Malta on 7 April, 2000. 

“The purpose of the agreement was to enable the company to carry out fire training at the CPD’s Fire Fighting Training Grounds in Hal Far in  return for a financial consideration and benefits in kind by way of availability of free training to CPD personnel”.

Despite being asked specifically to state the amount of rent paid by the company, the CPD did not reveal the nature of the “financial consideration”.

Speaking to MaltaToday in July a spokesperson for ISTC claimed that the CPD received a cut on training courses conducted by the company on its grounds.

While the Ministry of Finance described this agreement as a “private one”, Patrick Murgo insisted that the agreement was contracted through “an official deed endorsed by the Chief Notary to government.”

He also revealed that the company concluded the agreement following the submission of a proposal. “The submission was duly considered and eventually approved by the appropriate channels in line with standard government procedures applying”.

The agreement can be automatically renewed by “mutual agreement” between the parties and, in its current term, is valid up to April 2013. 

According to director Patrick Murgo, the Civil Protection Department will review its position vis-à-vis the agreement  towards the end of this term.