A bid for calls for the supply and construction of a prefabricated hospital for Covid-19 patients will resume after a board investigating claims of trading in influence found no wrongdoing.

The process, launched by the Foundation for Medical Services, was stalled after PN MP Jason Azzopardi claimed that a company had already been enquiring about the hospital before the call was launched. Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne had stopped the process and ordered an investigation. He said last week, however, that the company mentioned by Azzopardi, Tec Ltd, had not even bid for the tender.

21 companies and consortia have shown interest in the call, with the highest bid standing at €29 million and the lowest at €3.9 million.

The call is for the procurement of a 90-bed hospital. The facility mus include; a triage area; an emergency room clinic unit; two inpatient high dependency ward units equipped with a minimum of 24 beds, with patient monitors and 12 ventilators and six intensive care units equipped with 60 beds, 60 patient monitors and 45 ventilators.

Other facilities required include; an X-ray room, a pharmacy unit and a mortuary.

The contract will be awarded to the tenderer submitting the cheapest priced offer satisfying the administrative and technical criteria. The chosen bidder will be fined €50,000 per day for late commencement and for every day until the project is executed.  

The government has said that building a prefabricated hospital similar to facilities used in other European countries is cheaper than upgrading St Luke's hospital, which is run by Steward Health Care.

A health ministry spokesperson confirmed with Times of Malta that the review carried out by the director general of the contracts department and the ministry's permanent secretary had been concluded and no wrongdoing was found. The project will resume as planned.