The Labour Party believes that the police should call Minister Austin Gatt for questioning over the oil procurement board he had set up.

The front page article of yesterday's edition of MaltaToday claims that Dutch company Trafigura paid commissions to a Swiss bank account in the name of a company owned by board member Frank Sammut, backing its claim with invoices it had received.

The government today said that Sammut had his managing director contract of the Mediterranean Offshore Bunkering Co. Ltd terminated in July, 2004. He had been appointed to the post in the parastatal company in 1997, it added.

At a press conference, Evarist Bartolo said that while allegations concerning Mr Sammut date back to 2004, the procedure for the procurement of energy supplies has remained unchanged – and is still open to abuse.

The procurement board was set up by Dr Gatt, and Mr Bartolo said that as part of their investigations, the police should summon the minister to explain himself.

Labour, he said, would reform procedures to ensure that they are accountable. He added that while the party had insisted that the board should submit reports to parliament, this request had been turned down.

Mr Bartolo has long raised concerns about the awarding of the Delimara power station extension contract to BWSC, and pointed out that environmental laws, government policy and the tender’s conditions had to change to accommodate the company.

While he did not make any direct links between BWSC and the allegations against Mr Sammut, he pointed out that the government had, in the past, turned down a number of options to switch to gas, and that the allegations raised questions on the reasons behind such decisions.

Mr Bartolo insisted on the need for political responsibility to be assumed, stating that both Dr Gatt and Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi were answerable.

Criminal lawyer and election candidate Emanuel Mallia insisted that the police need not wait for the government to make a request to launch its investigations, pointing out that the police force had much greater powers than the Auditor-General.

Dr Mallia also insisted that any irregular commission received should be returned, as the funds belonged to the public.