WATCH | Delia questions €600 million spend by Steward

PN’s finance spokesperson Adrian Delia is asking for a breakdown of how the money given to Steward in a hospitals concession was spent, specifically a budget item titled “Value of Services Provided” with a hefty price tag of €604 million.

“If you believe the minister, go to St. Luke’s Hospital, or the General Hospital in Gozo, or Karin Grech Hospital for proof,” Delia said on this week’s Xtra while debating with Culture Minister Owen Bonnici.

Bonnici referred Delia to the recent ICC arbitration ruling, which listed all the costs connected to the concession. Delia referenced a specific page, inviting Bonnici to explain the €604 million budget item titled “value of services provided”. Bonnici accused Delia of dismissing the arbitration court’s final decision.

Bonnici said the claim made by Delia repeatedly over the past five years, that €400 million were stolen from the people, was a lie. He said Delia himself knew this when he chose not to initiate a court case to get the money back after he won his case in the national appeals’ court.

Furthermore, Bonnici quoted a fact check on the €400 million claim. “Although NAO argued that the concession’s value for money was fundamentally undermined among a litany of other issues, it did not argue that €400 million were stolen.”

When asked if the concession was a bad deal, the minister avoided the question. He said the country was facing many difficulties at the time of the concession, which was negotiated with the “best of intentions”.

Delia emphasised that Steward did not provide the promised service. He quoted the tribunal ruling: “Steward did not build and operate the hospitals according to the level of service and requirements agreed under the agreements. Steward merely administered the sites while keeping the conditions they inherited. They made minor cosmetic improvements while multiple services deteriorated.”

Bonnici defended his point by saying that there have been many failed concessions, including the Manoel Island concession and the Smart City concession. He said when a Labour administration was elected in 2013, Smart City was not the same hub it is today, but nonetheless “we didn’t go to court to annul the concession”.

When asked who won the arbitration, Delia said that there were four interpretations of the arbitration decision: three different ones from the PL and one from the Opposition. First from the Prime Minister Robert Abela who claimed in parliament that Malta had won; second from Jonathan Attard who said that the reason behind Malta’s defeat was Delia himself, thirdly from Robert Abela again who said there were no winners but a draw. The Opposition maintained that Malta’s case in the arbitration rested on the decision taken by the national appeals’ court.

Bonnici said that Malta had three wins. The first one being the “Controlled Step-In” that took place when the concession was revoked and the government took back control of the hospitals.. The second win was when the concession and any side agreements were erased. The third win was, according to him, the arbitration ruling itself, which confirmed that the €400 million claim was a lie.