The Investment, Industry and IT Ministry yesterday said that the person mentioned by Dr Sant as being a ministry official had never been a ministry employee.

This person is helping police investigations on alleged irregularities in the tender offer for the purchase of an integrated health information system.

As has already been said before, this person is employed by MITTS and this does not mean employment with the ministry.

All the people chosen by Minister Austin Gatt are mentioned in the official list of his private secretariat.

The ministry added it is surprising that Dr Sant said the government was trying to cover up the story when it was the government itself which was the first to publicly speak about the issue. It was also the government which had asked the police to investigate suspicions expressed by the chairman of the selection board that unauthorised information had been passed on to bidders.