All of a sudden, these last past weeks, some government-helped projects have suddenly turned into white elephants.

The much-vaunted PPP between government and Vitals regarding three key hospitals in Malta and Gozo suddenly morphed into something reportedly sold for €1 to an American healthcare company that at least exists and has a reputation.

We were told yesterday that Vitals had some sort of liquidity problems which led to suppliers experiencing tension regarding payment. No doubt, the forthcoming parliamentary debate on the issue will shed light on the matter. But right at the beginning, Vitals’ unclear management and ownership structure and lack of experience in healthcare led many to be skeptical about the whole deal.

We will also have to wait to see if the Vitals-Steward deal changes the whole business plan of the three hospitals and indeed of healthcare in Malta. The three, especially the Gozo hospital, need heavy investment in infrastructure and equipment as well as investment in personnel especially if the idea of attracting patients from abroad is going to be invested in.

Also linked to all this, there is the Barts Medical School which does not seem to have had an auspicious beginning, considering that the first few students have had to make do with classes in the Sixth Form Complex.

From one school to another. The other big hype project that has turned sour is the American University of Malta which entertained dreams of teaching some 4,000 students from the Middle East and which ended up with less than 20 students in its first full year, with staff being sacked and with huge controversies as regards the ODZ area at Zonqor the government was ready to give AUM.

In this case there does not seem to be any Steward on the horizon even though the government had said just a few weeks ago that if AUM default there are other educational enterprises which may be ready to take over.

Government, even in these very days, is prone to come up with huge announcements which then peter out. Some do not even materialize, others morph. Others, quite frankly, flop.

In a way, these failures should induce the government to be less bombastic in its announcements and to prepare the ground well and ease out the misfits from the promising. All the same, something like this happens everywhere, even in business. Not all good ideas come to fruition and some flop.

What really matters, however, is that these new ventures do not turn out to be pie in the sky proposed by someone who stands to materially benefit from the venture only then to steal away when the going gets tough.

It is in the interest of good governance to prepare well for such ventures so as to avoid the loss of face these two ventures-turned-white elephants have been.