Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia today said that he was only made aware that a company owned by Mark Sammut, the ministry’s IT consultant, submitted a bid for an IT contract at the medicine stores in San Gwann.

“It appears that, and I only found out about this recently, a company that Mark Sammut has shares in competed for a tender. I will leave the adjudication process to the civil service. There are competent people there, and if there are any difficulties then they will see to them in a transparent manner, Dr Farrugia said.

Asked if it best that Mark Sammut be told not to submit any further bids due to his role in the Ministry, Dr Farrugia said it is not his place to interfere in the way in which contracts are adjudicated, or who bids for those contracts.

“The call for offers has to be done properly through the e-portal system and the government gazette, and what interests me is that the process is transparent and just. I have created a business friendly desk in order to keep business men at arm's length. One of my advisors acts as the buffer between a business man, whoever he may be, and the Minister,” Dr Farrugia. 

This does not negate the fact that Dr Sammut plays a dual role in the Ministry, as a consultant and as a businessman, but Dr Farrugia does not see a conflict of interest in this.

“He is an advisor to the Ministry, procurement takes place by the Health Department, and the consultant involved there is the Health Department’s consultant,” Dr Farrugia said.

Yesterday, the Ministry for Health denied a report published in The Malta Independent on Sunday about the IT contract for the Stock Control System for the new CPSU (Central Procurement Supplies Unit) warehouse in San Gwann.

The Ministry said that the evaluation process of this call has not even commenced as the adjudication committee is still being set up and has not been granted.

But The Malta Independent on Sunday published documents that show that the best offer was submitted by Mall Systems Limited. Mark Sammut, government IT consultant, owns 96% of the company shares.