No one doubts that the case of the Mater Dei concrete is a grave matter. The controversy is about how to go about finding out who is guilty and holding them accountable.

There is the serious way. You find out who supplied the concrete. From there you find out if he had political protectors. You move transparently to show the process is above politics to remove all doubts of scapegoating. Above all, you do all you can to make sure your legal instruments of seeking justice are as strong as possible.

Then there is Konrad Mizzi’s way. Basically, this consists of turning the proper way on its head. The last edition of the TV discussion programme Reporter, in which I debated the issue with Mizzi, brought out the contrast clearly.

The first part of the discussion was calm and technical. I made it clear that PN is in favour of immediate action. So much so, that in September 2014, when let us remember the issue had already arisen, Claudio Grech and Michael Gonzi had made a formal public request for the Parliamentary Health Committee to discuss this matter urgently.

It seems less urgent for the Muscat government. Nearly one year after it announced that Mater Dei structure is hardly able to support itself, the Arup report, fundamental to the ongoing debate, has still not been published.

During the TV programme, Konrad Mizzi thought that I, or those watching, would take the power point presentation he had in hand to be the Arup document. Of course this was not the case. Even a child can see that a few pages with pictures on them do not constitute a scientific report which must include methodology, references, analysis, results and, above all, conclusions.

Arup is a highly respected company in the engineering field but there are legitimate questions which need to be answered about how Arup came to their conclusions.

So far we do not know how the samples were taken, who took them, or how they were tested. We only have that part of the result which Konrad Mizzi has selected and published. Moreover, we have absolutely no idea what remit Arup was given by Government. In other words, what were they told to look for?

 Of course there are other issues which need to be ironed out. Like, what were the concrete specifications as requested by the Mater Dei construction tender document and were these specifications met? Also, did Arup compare their results to these specs or to the concrete certification signed by the competent architects at the time the concrete was being laid out?

Then there is the issue of the “waiver”. Once again Konrad Mizzi thought it would be a good idea if, just before we recorded Reporter on Monday afternoon, he would call a press conference to announce that the previous government had created an escape route for Skanska to get away scot free.

Konrad Mizzi and Chris Fearne were so lost in slinging mud at the previous cabinet that they made a huge fundamental mistake. Skanska themselves would be privy to the fact that our incompetent Government had not taken the right legal advice on this matter and had announced that it considered its legal claims to be weak.

This announcement risks being self-fulfilling, allowing Skanska to get away without paying a cent, since it could quote the government’s words back at it in court.

Giving such a loophole is either incompetence or worse. The only other possible and plausible explanation is that, maybe, just maybe, somebody wanted this whole mis en scene simply to let someone get away with it while blaming the Opposition.

I assure you that this is not a far-fetched idea. Anything is possible with this bunch. Konrad Mizzi  is hardly a stranger to the breaking of every rule of good governance and transparency.

Of course in the coming days we will be looking out for several details and I am sure many intriguing facts will emerge. But we will also be left with many more unanswered questions.

In Parliament I have been asking about a certain British gentleman who gives Konrad Mizzi advice on anything under the sun.

Apparently he has connections in the concrete and construction businesses both in Malta and overseas. He travelled with Konrad Mizzi to China when they went to discuss the “fertility” prospects and many Gozitans have been telling me that he is quite the kingpin at the Gozo Hospital.

So far, my questions have remained unanswered. All the more reason to keep digging.