The statement issued by the Health Ministry on Mater Dei confirmed that the Nationalist government twisted facts and tried to take people for a ride, Malta Labour Party health spokesman Michael Farrugia said yesterday.

In a statement, Dr Farrugia said Health Minister Louis Deguara had forgotten that the hospital was supposed to have received its first patients in 2003 and should have been completely ready by summer 2005. He had forgotten that Lm300,000 was spent on a migration plan that did not take place because the hospital was not ready, Dr Farrugia said.

He had also forgotten that the costs were increased by Lm46 million in 2004, and that a Lm5 million fine that was supposed to have been inflicted on developers Skanska was forgiven in 2005. These are all millions of liri that belong to the Maltese people, Dr Farrugia said.

The government had later promised that the hospital would receive its first patients on 1 July, but this had not happened.

Dr Farrugia also said that it was not true that work on the hospital had stopped during the Labour 1996-1998 administration.