Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has arrived at the law courts where he is to testify in proceedings on the VGH case. The case was instituted by former Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia. Muscat had missed the last sitting in December, saying that he could not attend because he was abroad. Former health minister Konrad Mizzi was also due to ...

Vitals court case | Former prime minister Joseph Muscat says he fully trusts Prime Minister Robert Abela is doing what he thinks is best in renegotiating hospitals concession • Konrad Mizzi in quarantine again Former prime minister Joseph Muscat arriving in court to testify in the VGH case initiated by Adrian Delia (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday) Joseph Muscat has insisted that an ...

Prime Minister Robert Abela has instructed Heritage Malta to build a monument dedicated to author Oliver Friggieri, who died on Saturday. Professor Friggieri was laid to rest today in a funeral organised by the state. PM Abela said that Heritage Malta will next week issue a call for proposals for artists to take part in this initiative. “His name will ...

The government has once again been caught on the wrong foot with regards to a lucrative ferry concession as the Public Contracts Review Board (PCRB) has ordered that a controversial Request for Proposals (RFP) be withdrawn – for the third time. Following objections filed by Virtu Ferries claiming “serious illegalities” and disregard of EU law, the PCRB ordered Transport Malta ...

Two members of the evaluation committee that selected Vitals Global Healthcare as the preferred bidder to run three public hospitals were unware of the MoU signed by the government with the company before the concession was adjudicated, they told a court. Robert Borg, managing director at Reanda Malta Ltd, and Manuel Castagna, partner at Nexia BT, were testifying in the lawsuit filed ...

Transport Malta that a Request for Proposals for the provision of a fast ferry service between Malta and Gozo respects all European laws. The process was halted again after one of the bidders, Virtu Ferries Ltd, claimed that the process was “highly illegal.” The company said the process was “ill-conceived and fraught with a great number of patent, manifest and serious ...

Objections submitted by Virtu Ferries state the Request for Proposals is in breach of EU law. Transport Malta has again been constrained to put on hold the call for an exclusive 15-year concession for sea passenger ferry services following objections submitted by Virtu Ferries, claiming “serious illegalities” and disregard of EU law. Virtu Ferries, a pioneer in fast ferry services ...

The Vitals Global Healthcare project came “out of the blue” and bypassed Projects Malta completely, Projects Malta’s former Executive Chairman Adrian Said told the public inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder on Wednesday. Testifying, Said explained that he had felt side-lined because the hospitals project came out of the blue and had bypassed Projects Malta and was directly subcontracted through ...

Two former Projects Malta chairpersons contradicted Finance Minister Edward Scicluna’s claim that he was kept in the dark over major projects carried out by that entity which were linked to large scale corruption scandals. Adrian Said and William Wait told the public inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination that the permanent secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Alfred Camilleri, had ...

A Request for Proposals (RfP) issued by Transport Malta last month inviting bids for an exclusive concession of a new passenger ferry service between Malta and Gozo has been modified following objections by possible contenders. A request for a review of the call issued by Transport Malta was filed by one of the bidders before the final deadline for submissions, ...

Two interested parties file complaints of discrimination The conditions in the tender for a ferry service between Malta and Gozo can only be satisfied by two operators, namely Gozo Channel and Captain Morgan, according to an interested party.  The government’s third attempt to award a multi-million-euro contract for a ferry service between Malta and Gozo has been suspended after two ...

Transport Malta has issued a request for proposals for the introduction of a ferry service in Malta and Gozo. The concession will be for 15 years and will feature ticket booths, departure points and eco-vessels. A market research conducted by Transport Malta shows that the concession is valued at €115,500,000 excluding VAT. Those who will participate in the tendering process, ...

The government seems to have bent over backwards to accommodate the company, guaranteeing unobstructed sea views in a rare move. Silvio Debono and his family with disgraced former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on whose watch prime public land was transferred for a controversial development still facing opposition by the public. Members of the real estate industry remain baffled by the ...

For over two years, the government has been playing hide-and-seek with the memorandum of understanding (MOU), concealing the identity of the people behind the ill-fated Vitals Global Healthcare. The latest twist in this saga is that the MOU was suddenly “lost”  and then, conveniently, was “found” again following national uproar. The Shift takes a look at what we know about ...

The government wants to procure several 1 MW-plus solar plants. The tender is the third of its kind, and part of the 50 MW incentive scheme the island’s government launched in November 2017. The latest procurement exercise is the final round of the island nation’s 50 MW tender program. Malta’s Ministry for Energy and Water Management has launched a tender ...