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MALTATODAY 7 July 2019

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18 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR Matthew Vella MANAGING EDITOR Saviour Balzan Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 JULY 2019 5 July, 2009 Austin Gatt - Enemalta chairman's conflict of interest is no breach MINISTER Austin Gatt declared there is no breach of the ministry's code of ethics by En- emalta chairman Alex Tranter, who has commer- cial ties with the company that will construct a 100MW extension of the Delimara power station. The award of the €200 million contract to BWSC, which has sub-contracted Vassallo Build- ers, has attracted a judicial protest from rival bidder Ido Hutney/Bateman, which submitted a cheaper bid. Tranter admitted to a "potential con- flict of interest" last week but said he had declared it to the Enemalta board of directors in June 2008, when he learned that Vassallo Builders had been asked to submit a quote for their works. Gatt said Tranter had verbally informed his head of secre- tariat of the conflict. Tranter is a co-shareholder in Makeezi Ltd along with Vassallo Builders, and the director of the Caremalta group, owned by Vassallo Build- ers chairman Nazzareno Vassallo. According to Austin Gatt, Vassallo was one of six Maltese contractors who were being considered by BWSC for the work to construct the Delimara extension. At this point, Tranter excused himself from all discussions of this project during meetings of the board of directors. "The chairman took this action despite the fact that BWSC had not entered into any kind of agree- ment with Vassallo Builders, and as soon as he was aware that BWSC had communicated with Vas- sallo Builders... He was not involved in any way in the communications between BWSC and Vassallo Builders or in the preparation and submission of the budget quote," Gatt said, adding that any pos- sible conflict of interest could only arise after the bids are opened, not when the tender was pub- lished. The minister said any "actual, perceived or potential" conflict of interest was not a breach of the code of ethics for ministry directors. "Not declaring such a conflict or allowing such a conflict to benefit the interest other than that of the public entity would be a breach requiring action. We know of no suspicion that this has been the case. Quite the contrary, we under- stand that Alex Tranter has acted in the most correct fashion," he said. Enemalta first received proposals for its 100MW extension in 2005 from 26 companies, most of which sent delegations to visit Enemalta, accompanied by local agents. Invitations to ten- der were published in August 2007. BWSC's offer costs €165 million, and €27 million to convert to gas, and €18 million in maintenance costs over five years. Bateman's gas turbine costs €148 million and €35 million in maintenance costs over five years. Labour MP Evarist Bartolo declared that a Maltese intermediary arranged meetings be- tween BWSC with top Enemalta officials in 2005, months before the formal tendering process started, and that as early as May 2005 was telling BWSC's business development manager An- gers Langhorn that the firm had to "tap another source higher up in the political hierarchy." MaltaToday 10 years ago Quote of the Week Muscat must end the uncertainty Editorial "This (confidence vote) was something that I asked for as PN leader... so that the PN can be strengthened" PN leader Adrian Delia NOW that his ambition to secure a top EU job was thwarted last week, it is clear enough that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat will not be leaving by October, as previously planned. But that is the extent of the clarity sur- rounding Muscat's political future. Everything else remains murky and uncertain. His promised departure from politics has been postponed to an unknown date of his own choosing. If he sticks to the original script, it could be any time between now and 2022. There is, however, no guarantee – beyond a purely verbal, non-committal expression of intent on his own part – that Joseph Muscat will step down as prime minister at all. Al- ready there are (very predictable) indications that his own supporters will make that deci- sion difficult for him. And there are prec- edents he can choose to follow in the event that he changes his mind, following the fail- ure of his European 'top job' aspirations. Former PL leader Alfred Sant had likewise made a public show of stepping down after the 2004 electoral defeat: only to 'change his mind' under pressure from party support- ers, thus thwarting the ambitions of those PL exponents who had expressed an interest in running for the post themselves. Today, a very similar state of uncertainty threatens to undermine the unity and stabil- ity that Joseph Muscat managed to impart to Labour since taking the helm in 2008. The seeds of this uncertainty were sown from the very outset. Even before taking office in 2013, Muscat had hinted that he believed country leaders should have a fixed term of 10 years. He is arguably the first leader to have declared (not once, but at least three times) that he would not run for a third general elec- tion. Such statements are deemed to be refresh- ing, especially in the Maltese culture of patri- archal leaders who hold sway over the party for long after their expiry date. Nonetheless, there is a price to be paid for giving oneself an automatic expiry date as prime minister. As the self-imposed deadline looms, it is inevitable that others within the Labour Party will start thinking of an immi- nent, 'post-Muscat' future. So, while Muscat was allegedly planning to get his foot in the door to a 'top job' in the EU (a fact whispered in Maltese political circles, yet hardly having been the talk of town in Brussels), bold plans were being drafted by those eager for a 'top job' in Malta. Over the past year, speculation over Mus- cat's departure from politics ignited a quiet race between potential contenders for his own position. Case in point: one of the first MPs to declare his 'pleasure' at seeing Joseph Muscat stay put in Malta, was deputy prime minister (and oft-touted aspirant) Chris Fearne, who on Twitter implored the PM to keep his hand on the country's helm. Fearne was one of a handful of top Labour exponents understood to harbour leadership ambitions of their own (although he never openly confirmed such rumours). Other can- didates rumoured to be vying for pole posi- tion include Miriam Dalli, Robert Abela, Ian Borg and (controversially) Konrad Mizzi. Inevitably, this raises the possibility that internal rifts might erupt within the Labour Party, following a lengthy period of stabil- ity under a successful, unifying leader. The chaos currently reigning in the Nationalist Party can, in fact, be attributed to that party's failure to plan properly for the post-Fenech Adami era, which ended in 2004. But it is unhealthy for a political party to linger in a state of uncertainty surrounding its future leadership. Already, the situation can be seen to have affected cohesion within the government itself, with insiders speaking of a lull in activity, or of top non-political actors in government now planning their exits. At times, ministers seem more interested in showcasing their individual successes rather than presenting them within a holistic government plan.This started being evident during the May European election campaign when ministers appeared to be competing with the campaign fronted by Muscat. The situation intensified after the election, when Muscat was clearly distracted by what was happening in the corridors of Brussels. As a result, government's previous 'hands on' approach to local issues appears to have faltered, as Muscat seemed increasingly more interested in pursuing his own European am- bitions, than in governing the country. He may have returned from Brussels with renewed 'vigour' to finish the job he started in 2017.But now that the European exit door has been shut, Joseph Muscat must commit himself on his plans as Prime Minister of the country. It is important that he re-asserts his authority on government. He must get back into the driver's seat, and lead. There is no place for complacency or iner- tia. The government must once again work as a unified entity, focusing on growing the economy and improving the quality of life. But coupled with this renewed vigour, Mus- cat must also lay down the terms of his exit, giving everyone clarity.The country cannot afford to be in a permanent state of specula- tion over the Prime Minister's future. Uncertainty does no one any good: especial- ly when artificially created, as in this case.

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