The government has replied that Dr Sant got one basic fact wrong: what is being investigated is not the Foundation for Medical Services but the bills being sent by Skanska and their justifications or otherwise.

Speaking at a press conference at Labour Party headquarters, Dr Sant made public two letters sent by parliamentary secretary Tonio Fenech to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Director of Contracts Joe Spiteri.

In a letter sent on 23 July, Mr Fenech asked Dr Gonzi to approve the hiring of professional and technical people to support the Mater Dei Hospital Negotiating Team.

Mr Fenech suggested three units for the negotiating team: a legal team headed by Dr Richard Camilleri, a project management team to examine the negotiation process headed by PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Michel Ganado, and a British expert, John Barr.

The letter states that the legal team would be paid at a partner rate of Lm45 per hour to an associate rate of Lm30 per hour; the PWC team Lm32 an hour, and Mr Barr to receive a consultancy per diem of £500, a travel allowance of £300 and accommodation, subsistence and car hire allowance for a minimum of three months of Lm550.

Mr Fenech further asked Dr Gonzi to approve the remuneration for two members of the negotiating team: Paul Camilleri and Jacqueline Camilleri. Lm43 per hour for Mr Camilleri and Lm20 per hour for Ms Camilleri.

On 6 August, Mr Fenech, on behalf of Dr Gonzi, asked the Director General Contracts’ opinion on the reasonableness of the rates quoted.

In his reply, Mr Spiteri said: “Given the complexity of the proposed discussions and their importance vis-à-vis the final cost of the Mater Dei Hospital project, which cost has had and will have a substantial effect on public finances; and considering the urgency of the matter, I feel I can confirm that the indicated remuneration rates are generally fair and reasonable. My certification, however, is being made on the clear understanding that the assignment involved will be of a short-term nature and in no way an open-ended one.”

The revelation of government correspondence made by the Leader of the Opposition on such a sensitive issue raises questions regarding the security of inter-government correspondence, which can end up being broadcast to one and all by the Opposition party.

Dr Sant, far from approving the efforts being made by the government to curb the cost over-runs of the hospital, Malta’s biggest expenditure over the past 10 years, said the Labour Party does not trust the way the negotiations are being carried out. He claimed the negotiations are a whitewash and intended to enable certain people who were involved in the mismanagement of past years, to cover up their mistakes.

Up to the end of last year, the building of the hospital had already cost Lm108.5 million, which, according to the Foundation of Medical Services, has already risen to Lm114 million, apart from other unbilled work.

Dr Sant asked why Paul Camilleri and Jacqueline Camilleri, from FMS, had ended up in the negotiating team when FMS is responsible for all the ‘mistakes’ that have been made. He claimed that Dr Gonzi should have appointed people who had not been involved in the negotiations at all. Mr Camilleri, Dr Sant stated, earns in two hours 150 per cent of a man’s on a minimum wage.

Dr Sant also asked how these people were chosen, waxed satirically on the fact that three of them have the same surname (Camilleri) and why the government did not use its own consultancy unit.

Dr Sant also added a footnote to his recent campaign against Dar Malta in Brussels saying it was all a ‘friends of friends’ thing and asked whether this is once again what is happening in the case of the hospital.

But Mr Fenech, contacted by this paper said Dr Sant has got it all wrong. It is not FMS that is being investigated but Skanska’s bills. Actually, this is not an investigation at all, but more of a negotiation process.

It makes sense, Mr Fenech added, to have people who know what the bills are about, rather than having someone who is not involved and would therefore take a long time to investigate the details of the bills.

Mr Fenech gave the hospital the title of a well-known book in Maltese literature, Taht Tliet Saltniet, because the building of the hospital has been built under three successive administrations.

Had new people, who have no knowledge of hospital construction, been involved, it would have taken them a very long time to understand what took place.

Mr Barr is a renowned civil engineer and a project manager who knows Malta and has handled huge projects, including the Freeport Terminal project management. His last project management was the construction of a 1,000-bed hospital in the UK.

Dr Richard Camilleri is one of Malta’s top-notch lawyers in commercial law. The reason for his appointment is that this is mainly a legal dispute and his help was needed to help FM’s legal consultant.

Paul Camilleri, an architect, is the vice-chairman of FMS, and Ms Camilleri (no relation) who carried out the detailed analysis of Skanska’s claims on behalf of FMS, is an expert on whether the Skanska claims are justified or not.

Finally, Mr Fenech said, he always notified, in writing, the Director of Contracts and he has no problem with Dr Sant revealing the correspondence as the aim behind the correspondence was to show that he has nothing to hide and does everything above board.

A government statement said last night Dr Sant himself had used the same procedure on much smaller issues.

It asked why is Dr Sant doing so at such a critical stage in the negotiations. It is clear, the DOI statement said, that the Opposition is upset by the serious manner with which the government is tackling the issue.