Education Minister Evarist Bartolo is "mired in corruption" and should resign after his ‘solution’ in the latest scandal to rock his ministry cost the Maltese taxpayer an additional €500,000, PN Deputy Leader Beppe Fenech Adami said today.
He was referring to allegations that Mr Bartolo approved payment to a contractor for works and materials that were not authorised by the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools. It is being alleged that Avantgarde Projects Ltd, which had won a €540,000 tender to carry out works at a Qormi school, was paid around €1 million by the current administration. The previous adminsitration had witheld payment over a disagreement between the two parties over the final bill. Both Avantgarde and Mr Bartolo have denied the claims, with the latter insisting that he was only cleaning up the mess left behind by the previous administration.
Speaking to journalists in front of the Education Ministry this afternoon, Dr Fenech Adami said this was the latest scandal involving the minister, who had already been in hot water over a corruption case involving a former person of trust. “He did not just appoint an official who squandered public funds but it has now also turned out that the minister himself had approved the payment to Avantgarde. His ‘solution’ cost the country half a million euro more than the original tender amount. The bucks stops right here, with Evarist Bartolo.”
When this newspaper pointed out that this whole saga started under the PN’s watch, Dr Fenech Adami insisted that the previous administration had not given in to pressure and had refused to pay for unauthorised works. “God forbid that we settle all cases with contractors in this way – by giving in to pressure and giving them money they do not deserve. These are public funds we are talking about.”
PN election candidate Ivan Bartolo said Evarist Bartolo often spoke about honesty in politics but his actions reflected otherwise. He said the minister had been an accomplice to corruption and had tried to cover for those close to him. Mr Bartolo said the Education Minister should focus on education instead of covering up cases of corruption.
PL reaction
Reacting,the Labour Party said Dr Fenech Adami should be the last person to speak on the subject of good governance. “The PN government Beppe Fenech Adami formed part of used to rack up billions in unpaid bills at the FTS. This is the heritage that the PN left behind.” The PL said the current administration was ‘cleaning up’ the foundation’s operations after years of disastrous mismanagement.
Minister to sue for libel
In a statement this evening, the Education Ministry said that the Times had published false information on Minister Bartolo, despite the statements that had been issued by the government. The Opposition had today used this information in an attempt at destroying Mr Bartolo’s repuation.
“The Minister has no other choice but to file libel proceedings against the Times of Malta, Beppe Fenech Adami and Ivan Bartolo.”
In the meantime Dr Fenech Adami was also asked to react to comments by blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia, who said the contribution other the PN Deputy Leader, Mario de Marco, was unimpressive. Dr de Marco replied to the criticism in a Facebook post and said he had been mostly absent from the media and the public sphere because of health reasons.
Dr Fenech Adami said he was not aware of the comments made with regard to Dr de Marco but insisted that the PN was a united and ever growing team. “We are determined to head towards the next general election with the best team, the best vision and the best possible coalition against the most corrupt government in the history of this country.