Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1072992
SUNDAY • 20 JANUARY 2019 • ISSUE 1002 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY VITALS SCANDAL €1.95 YOUR FIRST READ AND CLICK OF THE DAY WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT SUNDAY • 20 JANUARY 2019 • ISSUE 1002 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY SUNDAY • 20 JANUARY 2019 • ISSUE 1002 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY maltatoday SAVIOUR BALZAN FORMER Opposition lead- er Simon Busuttil has been turned down for the job of executive director of the European Union Asylum Office. The Nationalist MP ap- plied for EASO's top posi- tion in 2018, a year after having resigned his post as leader in the wake of the PN's loss in the general elections. The EU asylum agency is based in Malta. Busuttil applied for the post after the agency's former executive direc- tor, José Carreira, stepped down in June amid allega- tions of staff harassment, "including psychological violence" and an investi- gation by OLAF, the bloc's anti-fraud office. Busuttil was shortlisted in the first tranche of ap- plicants but he appears not to have made it into the fi- nal list of successful appli- cants. The final decision for an executive director with an estimated salary of €168,000 has not been taken yet. A senior EU source told MaltaToday that appli- cants traditionally seek support from their coun- try of origin's government. Busuttil – somewhat Powerless government could not stop abusive Vitals-Technoline deal DAVID HUDSON KONRAD Mizzi, who as health and energy minister privatised three Maltese state hospitals to the un- known Vitals Global Healthcare, has shrugged off any governmen- tal responsibility for the compa- ny's secret purchase of a medical equipment supplier. The owners of Vitals Global Healthcare (VGH) secretly pur- chased medical equipment sup- plier Technoline using offshore companies in Jersey to hide their ownership, and then drafted an ex- clusivity agreement for the supply of medical equipment to the three hospitals they were running. The deal allowed them to use tax- payers' cash they received to run the hospitals, to pay themselves for the supply of medical equipment. Mizzi, however, hit back at sug- gestions that the government was responsible for the VGH deal with Technoline, which is still in force after VGH had to sell out to Amer- ican healthcare giant Steward in early 2018. PAGE 4 2 INSIDE National Book Prize winner LORANNE VELLA TAKES THE Q&A LINGUISTIC IMPEDIMENTS Literacy tests are 'misdiagnosing' Maltese-speaking students PAGE 7 SUNDAY • SUNDAY • malta Simon Busuttil turned down for top EU job Former PN leader Simon Busuttil vied for the post of EASO executive director PAGE 3 Secret Vitals deal reveals hospital privatisation fi asco • Konrad Mizzi: 'We cannot butt in' Tourism minister Konrad Mizzi (centre) was responsible for the privatisation of three Maltese state hospitals to the unknown Vitals Global Healthcare consortium: he claims the government could not intervene in their procurement 'model' MALTATODAY COMMENT 18-27 Michael Falzon "Whatever it is, there can hardly be a doubt that this was a crooked deal with malice aforethought" Saviour Balzan "This is the reality check with privatisation: normal practices in the public sector f ly out of the window" SANDRO CHETCUTI Prepare for the hard times, says building lobby boss INTERVIEW 16-17