Vitals Global Healthcare and Steward Healthcare cannot be made out to seem as if they are two separate entities – theye are one and the same thing in connection with the deal the government reached to transfer three public hospitals under their care, PN MP Adrian Delia said on Monday.

Delia and PN MP Karol Aquilina addressed the article written by President of Steward Healthcare Nadine Delicata, published on the Times of Malta on Monday. Aquilina said that through the article, Delicata admitted seven grave mistakes regarding the Steward deal.

Aquilina said that she admitted that the deal with Steward was not planned well, and it was not done with the interests of the public at heart. He added that Vitals also created several companies in attempt to cover up the abuses which they were committing.

Vitals also failed to keep account of how much the company was spending as well as what it was doing, said Aquilina. He added that the company was given millions of euros from public funds, and that no one from the government’s side was checking what it was doing with the money.

“Vitals have not paid more than €34 million in VAT, and Steward is refusing to pay back that money,” said Aquilina, adding that both companies have also failed to fulfil the obligations they were bound to by contract. Finally, government has failed to take action to ensure that the companies keep up with their obligations, he said.

Two years ago, the government appointed a committee to review the VGH deal, made up of civil service officials, including Finance Ministry permanent secretary Alfred Camilleri, a legal team and the finance and health ministries among others. “Despite the committee put in place, this same committee has not concluded anything, and discussions completely failed,” said Aquilina.

Aquilina said that discussions between Steward and the government are clearly not happening, as Steward is resorting to publishing its own articles and press releases to confirm its position. He called for the government to address this issue which affects the health of the Maltese public.

Delia condemned Delicata for clearly trying to highlight a difference between the two – putting forth a negative light on Vitals and a positive one on Steward. He pointed out that the building of the Gozo Hospital was not done, neither was the redevelopment of St Luke’s hospitals, nor the promised 800 beds serviced for the use of patients.

“The Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister for Finance as well as all those who have voted for this deal, are directly complacent in the squandering and theft of the people’s money,” said Delia, accusing the government of being incapable.

He questioned as to why the government keeps paying Steward when the contract is clearly fraudulent.