The revelations about the serious structural defects in the columns of the Emergency Department at Mater Dei hospital is just further proof of how public projects were carried out under the PN government. Regarding the construction of Mater Dei, besides taking around 17 years to build and finish it, it is obvious that all the PN government was interested in was building a hospital that would be very pleasing to the eye, and to hell with how much it was going to cost and whether it would be large enough for an ever-increasing aging population and the influx of thousands of EU nationals. And, even more importantly, whether the highest construction standards were being used and controlled.

The construction of Mater Dei was completed in 2008 but, strangely enough, it is only now – under the new government – that the serious defects in its construction have come to light. Were there people who knew about these defects but kept mum as long as there was a PN government in office so as not to add to the embarrassment of the former government?

What is certain is that the truly ‘state-of-the-art’ things about Mater Dei are the scandals and irresponsibility that have surrounded its construction!

Eddy Privitera

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