Last week it became known that Malta had lost €11 million in European Union funds after reservations were expressed by the European Court of Auditors following irregularities in the awarding of contracts for the rebuilding of the Coast Road.

€11 million have been thrown down the drain by an irresponsible government, and yet the government tries to play it cool and attempts to twist the situation in its own favour.

To try to cover up its mismanagement, it said that the €11 million were used elsewhere. In its haste to appear clean in the shameful situation it created for itself, it first said that they had been used for environmental and educational purposes, then changed its mind and said they were used for other road projects, but changed its mind again and returned to its original version that the funds were diverted to education and environment ventures.

What these environment and education projects are nobody knows. Labour wants others to be accountable, but falls short of being accountable for what it does. We need the proof of where these €11 million were spent, if they really were. I cannot believe that the European Union is so easy to manipulate and that accepted so easily that money that was going to be used on a project where it found irregularities is diverted elsewhere.

But the money was lost, no matter how much the government says that it wasn’t.

Let’s put matters into perspective. The government says that the Coast Road project is to cost €53 million, of which €45 million were to be paid by the European Union. Now, the EU will withhold €11 million because of the irregularities that were uncovered, which means that it will now pay €34 million.

So the government was to pay €8 million as its share of the project (€53million minus €45 million). Now it will have to pay €8 million plus the €11 million that has been withheld by the European Union, for a total of €19 million. The €11 million will of course be paid for by the taxpayers.

So how can the government say that Malta has lost nothing because of such irregularities, when now the country will be paying €19 million instead of €8 million? The government might convince its Super One followers but it will not convince the rest of us.

And so, €11 million of taxpayers’ money that could have been used for any project, not necessarily connected with roads, have now to be directed on to the Coast Road project because of the government’s mismanagement.

Still, there is no talk about what these irregularities are and what kind of action will be taken against those who cost the country €11 million of its hard-earned money.

Just as much as it is expected that heads roll on the PN side each time there is some kind of scandal, so it should be on the government side.

But there is a great difference between saying something and doing it.

Joseph Muscat preaches accountability, but he does not translate his words into action.