The House of Representatives approved an amended version put forward by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi by 31 votes to 27.

In his address, Dr Gonzi said that the opposition’s move amounted to “sour grapes” after the government’s successful conclusion of talks with Skanska, which established a deadline as to when the project is to be completed.

The Prime Minister said the opposition was missing the chance to work with the government to see that the project is completed in time. Instead of cooperating, the opposition had moved a motion of no confidence. This meant that the MLP did not agree with the agreement reached with Skanska, Dr Gonzi said.

It also meant that the opposition was only interested in gaining political mileage at the expense of the national interest.

Dr Gonzi gave a brief outline of the talks held with Skanska, saying that initially the difference between the two sides was enormous. Yet the negotiations had come to a satisfactory conclusion and the fact that legal action was avoided meant that the project will not encounter unnecessary delays for its completion.

The government had achieved more than was originally targeted, since all the

phases of the hospital will be finished by 1 July 2007.

Labour leader Alfred Sant said that through a design and build contract reached with Skanska four years ago, the government had allowed the costs of the project to escalate. The cost of the hospital had risen from Lm83 million to Lm139 million while the completion date had been extended from 2003, then to 2005 and now to 2007.

Yet the real expenditure on the project at the end of this year would already reach Lm151 million and is expected to grow to Lm216 million by the time it is eventually finished.

He said that one of the issues was accountability. It was not just the former Prime Minister who was to blame, but also the present one as well as ministers Louis Galea and Louis Deguara. The health sector was of great importance to Malta but waste could not be tolerated.

When the Labour Party was elected to government in 1996 it had not been possible for it to back out of deals that had already been agreed to. It had accepted expert advice to go for a comprehensive hospital and had imposed controls on the way Skanska operated. But in 1998 the new PN government had left everything in Skanska’s hands.

The recent negotiations with the Swedish company were too little, too late, said Dr Sant.

Health Minister Louis Deguara said that the opening of the Mater Dei Hospital would mean that the sites of St Luke’s Hospital and Boffa Hospital would be free for other use immediately and could possibly lead to the closure of Zammit Clapp Hospital.

He went through the history of the project, saying that the original plans were for a 480-bed complex that would have cost Lm51 million. The Labour government had amended the plans and decided that a 1,000-bed hospital was needed. That would have cost Lm100 million.

In 2000, the government had agreed with Skanska that the first phase of the hospital would cost Lm83 million. This excluded the Lm20 million spent up until then, as well as the cost of equipping the hospital and the other phases. When, in 2003, he had said that the cost had risen to Lm200 million, that included the first phase of equipment purchase.

Opposition health spokesman Michael Farrugia demanded that the government publish the appendices of the medical agreement contract signed between the Foundation for Medical Studies and suppliers INSO, saying that a refusal would mean that the government had something to hide.

At the end of the debate, the opposition motion of no confidence was defeated and an amended version put forward by the government was passed, with 31 votes in favour and 27 against.