The issue was sparked after Dr Sant made allegations that Government obtained an Lm4 million loan to invest in a port terminal that was “kaput” (bankrupt).

Dr Sant said Dr Gatt might be qualified to run a chicken coup, but was definitely not up to running an investments ministry, called him a liar and also demanded for his resignation.

Dr Gatt, meanwhile, countered by saying “You find cocks and chickens in chicken coups, but you have to be careful with Dr Sant; what he says and what is published in MLP press releases and in their media can be totally different.”

Yesterday’s spat was kickstarted by Dr Sant during a press conference at MLP headquarters. “Austin Gatt is simply a liar. He should either resign or file a libel suit against me if what I have said is untrue,” he said.

Dr Gatt is trying to confuse people with his statements and counter statements, he said. He claimed that the government bought the remaining shares in the Brindisi terminal for Lm149,127. “Then in August this year, they invested an additional Lm4 million. I said that government invested Lm4 million in a bankrupt project and that is exactly what happened,” said Dr Sant.

He said Dr Gatt tried to cover his tracks by announcing that the government had bought the shares at an earlier date. “Thanks very much, but we already knew. He is not going to pull the wool over people’s eyes,” he said.

Dr Sant said discussions with contacts in Brindisi began in 1995 and the subsequent MLP administration continued with the project in 1996 through to 1998.

“It is the Nationalist government’s fault that the port is in the state it’s in. Contracts dried up, but they did nothing at all about it,” he said.

Dr Sant furnished the media with a copy of a letter sent by the permanent secretary within the Finance Ministry to the MIMCOL chairman, saying that the Malta government confirmed that it would support MIMCOL in honouring the EURO 10 million bridging bank facility that BOV made available to MIMCOL.

The letter further states that government will honour the commitment by not later than 31 December 2004.

“This proves that Dr Gatt lied. There is a very strong smell of either corruption, incompetence or ulterior motives,” he said.

Dr Sant said that the government planned to sweep the issue under the carpet as it always does. “Look at the agreement, government is bound to pay back the cash after this year’s budget, so it will not show up in the books till next year. We cannot keep going on like this,” said Dr Sant.

He said that it was absolutely shameful that after the Brussels Dar Malta debacle (Lm9 million property investment), which the public voiced serious disdain over, the government went and splashed out an additional Lm4 million on another disastrous project.

Dr Sant said that the government seemed to think that the MLP should not raise issues when things were going wrong. “Look at the Skanska issue, did the government really think that we were going to keep our mouths shut for three months?” he said.

Dr Sant said that the letter he handed out to the media was the proverbial pudding. “What more proof do you need? What more do you need than a letter saying that the government was guarantor to a Lm4 million loan to MIMCOL?”

Asked by The Malta Independent, Dr Sant gave a breakdown of the Freeport and Brindisi terminal’s financial situation. “The Freeport is insolvent. People who have looked into the situation carefully have seen that it has more liabilities than assets. Dr Gatt or should I say Dr Hatt (unload) did not privatise the terminal, he unloaded it,” said Dr Sant.

Dr Sant also said that the Brindisi terminal had a net deficit of up to Lm10 million.

Meanwhile, Dr Gatt answered Dr Sant during a live programme broadcast on Radio 101.

“Well, I am rather pleased that for the first time, Dr Sant has admitted that we bought the shares at Lm150,000 when they were supposed to cost much, much more,” he said.

Dr Gatt said: “I confirm again, these are all lies, no Lm4 million investment was made. We had some outstanding loans with Italian banks and all we did was simply transfer them to Bank of Valletta. There was no fresh investment. It is what is known as re-financing.”

Dr Gatt also said that the association with Brindisi Terminal Italia spa began under the leadership of Dr Sant where the then Investment Minister John Attard Montalto signed an agreement with the mayor of Brindisi.

Dr Gatt said it was Dr Sant and his two-year administration that was trying to hide facts and then pin the blame on the present government.

“And then he says my words are worthy of coming from a chicken coup?” he asked with a note of sarcasm in his voice.

“There is a Maltese saying which I can’t really use on the radio, xi hadd, milli jkollha ttik. Whether or not I am capable of doing this job or not is not for Dr Sant to decide, it is up to the electorate and up to the Prime Minister to decide, certainly not him,” he said.

Dr Gatt said he was not bothered if Dr Sant attacked him. “I attack him as well, we both use the same weapon and ammunition anyway, he is not going to bother me and he is not going to throw a spanner into the works either,” he said.

Dr Gatt said it was Dr Sant’s usual tactic to try and shoot down anything positive that the PN had done, such as the issue with Skanska.

“This latest fairytale is a simple ploy to divert people’s attention from the great privatisation deal we secured at the Freeport,” said Dr Gatt.

Dr Gatt did however say he wanted Bank of Valletta to investigate to see whether there was a security leak.

“This is a bank that government does a lot of business with and I would expect them to investigate the issue properly. It seems like there was a breach of the government’s (as a customer) confidentiality and this needs to be looked at,” said Dr Gatt.