The government is potentially compromising any claim it has for damages over the “weak concrete” at Mater Dei by saying it can't taken any action due to a waiver, PN MP Claudette Buttigieg and PN Executive President Ann Fenech said today during a press conference.

Dr Fenech said that architects and contractors are legally responsible for any defects in the construction of a building up to 15 years after it has been built, and they should be answerable to this legal provision.

She also pointed out that any contact signed is legally null and void if one of the parties has made any false declarations, which would be the case if the concrete that was used is not up to specifications.

Claudette Buttigieg called on the government to release the full report on structural weaknesses at Mater Dei, saying that up until this point Health Minister Konrad Mizzi has just been picking and choosing what he releases to the media.

She also called on the government to publish the tender specifications for Mater Dei, in order to establish whether the concrete used was according to specification.  

In a statement issued later this evening, the government said that contrary to what the opposition was saying, it was going to do all it could to safeguard Malta’s rights in a civil, criminal and commercial capacity.

The real question, said the government, was why the waiver was signed, when the Project Closure Agreement with Skanska already addressed a number of issues that were of concern. The government asked why the PN government of the time signed the waiver, and also whether it had asked the Attorney General for advice on the issue. It also asked why the government of the time did not publish the waiver agreement if it had nothing to hide.

The government also said that the PN was in a state of panic, and this was evident by the way it tried to undermine the members of an independent board assigned to investigate the issue under the guidance of Judge Philip Sciberras.