The Transport Ministry has denied breaching the conditions laid out in the Expression of Interest for the public transport service by meeting bidders before the process is completed, as claimed by PN MP Anthony Bezzina.
Mr Mizzi recently travelled to Spain to meet one of the bidders – Autobuses de Leon – to carry out the neccessary verifications. He also told the media that he had met with anyone who had asked to meet him but he has so far declined to announce who the preferred bidder is. Mr Mizzi said he had spoken to the preferred bidder but said that he will announce the name in due course. Three companies – two Maltese and one Spanish – have submitted bids for the operation of Malta’s public transport service.
PN MP Toni Bezzina was quick to point out that this was in breach of the EOI’s conditions and accused the government of not playing by its own rules. Indeed, paragraph 10 of the EOI states that; “Candidates shall not contact any other person at the Authority, at the Operating Company, at the Ministry for Transport and Infrastructure, or any Government Ministry, department, authority or public body, or any of their officers, employees, agents, advisers or consultants, during any stage of the bidding process. The Authority reserves the right to disqualify at its sole and absolute discretion any candidate whom it deems to be in breach of this condition.”
A Transport Ministry spokesperson, however, dismissed these claims and insisted that the rules were not broken because the Minister “had never discussed the EOI itself.”
The sposkesperson insisted that the Minister had travelled to Spain to carry out the necessary technical verifications on fleet management, telematics, control room and coaches. “The Minister did not discuss the contract. He just went there to make sure that those who appied actually had the means necessary to qualify for the EOI. If a company tells us it has, say, a hundred buses, we have to make sure that they really do have a hundred buses.”
At this point, it has to be noted that Mr Bezzina never claimed that the EOI was discussed. He only claimed that the bidders had been in contact with the Minister, which is forbidden by the conditions of the EOI.
The Transport Ministry, in the meantime also accused the Opposition of “doing its utmost to hinder the important process. On the other hand, the government is doing its utmost to avoid repeating the same mistakes done by the previous administration.”
Minister should shoulder responsibility - PN
In a statement, the Nationalist Party said Minister Joe Mizzi should shoulder responsibility for the ‘fishy’ Spain visit.
PN MP Anthony Bezzina said that, in comments to The Malta Independent, Mr Mizzi had admitted to speaking to the Spanish company. This is in clear breach of the conditions set in the EOI, which says in the most categorical way that there can be no contact with the bidding companies.
“The Mister’s admission has made his visit to Spain a ‘fishy one.’ Mr Mizzi is duty bound to say why he went to Spain, in breach of the EOI conditions.”