The First Hall of the Civil Court gave the go-ahead yesterday for the continuation of the tendering process for the leasing of personal computers and laptops and workstation support services for Maltese schools and teachers, after it rejected two applications for a warrant of prohibitory injunction.

Mr Justice Geoffrey Valenzia handed down his decision on two applications for prohibitory injunction, one filed by the Chamber of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (GRTU) and the other filed by Tabone Computers Ltd. Both claimed that the bid bonds requested were exorbitant and made it impossible for small businesses to submit their bids.

The court rejected these requests on the grounds that there was no valid reason for a complaint and said that the applications could not be upheld.

In a statement, the Investments, Industry and Information Technology Ministry said that the two judgements handed down yesterday confirmed that it is not true that the tender document precluded SMEs from submitting bids and neither did it give any business an advantage over another. It said it also showed that the bid bond was not excessive and one that could therefore not be deposited by small and medium-sized enterprises.

The ministry said it will now continue the tendering process for this contract, worth around Lm10 million, which will dramatically improve the use of information and communication technology in schools.