Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1180732
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 30 OCTOBER 2019 3 NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 This when both Gozo and Ka- rin Grech hospital are begging for basic maintenance, and St Luke's hospital is in a state of abandonment. Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, MAM president Martin Balzan said that the 2020 budgetary estimates indi- cate that the government has ei- ther approved or is planning to approve an increase in payment to Steward. He emphasised that no more money should be given to the US health care giant, and that Steward should either carry out its contractual obligations or else leave Malta. "We should not give Steward more money over and above what is in the contract. This is not what the Maltese people and patients deserve," Balzan said. The government had bought the proverbial "fish in the sea", he said, because it had paid Steward money but not re- ceived what it was due in return. In light of this, the govern- ment should cut its losses and move away from the PPP mod- el, he said. The government, Balzan high- lighted, had in fact opted to not utilise a PPP arrangement to fund its plans to build an outpa- tient's block at Mater Dei and a new psychiatric hospital. Instead, it intended to fund the projects itself, indicating it had acknowledged that the PPP model didn't work. "This shows the government is agreeing with us, as it chose to not use PPPs for these new pro- jects," he said. National Audit Office institutional failure Following statements by MAM against the PPP deal, Parliament's Public Accounts Committee had vote for the Auditor General to evaluate the agreement, Balzan said. However, the National Audit Office has to date conducted no inquiry, in what amounted to institutional failure. "The Auditor General has to do his duty or at least admit he is scared to evaluate the con- tract. This is an institutional failure." Balzan said that while accord- ing to the legal advice it had received, MAM didn't have the grounds to start a formal dispute on the PPP deal, it was actively evaluating whether it could do so on the basis of a breach of EU state aid rules. €1.5 billion over 30 years for Steward The government's budgetary estimates show that, after ex- cluding salaries, there has been a progressive increase in dis- bursements to Steward, Balzan said. These now amount to €50 million a year, resulting in an expense of €1.5 billion over the 30-year period covered by the government's concession for Steward to manage three of Malta's hospitals. Moreover, Balzan said that, according to what a source – an unnamed middle grade Stew- ard official – told some doctors, the US consortium is consider- ing leaving Malta unless gov- ernment payments aren't in- creased. "We verified what the middle grade official has claimed – that Steward will leave if not given more money. […] And nobody has negated the claim." The substantial increase in budgetary expenses for the PPP also gave credence to the of- ficial's claim, he said, showing the government had either in- creased what it would pay Stew- ard or intended to. The savings in the addition- al payments the government would give to Steward should be used in providing more up to date medicines and equipment for all patients, Balzan said. "We are treating the patient as if Malta were a poor country, by not providing certain medicines for free. We have to give patients the treatment of a wealthy coun- try." Barts Medical School constructed for far less than government will pay Balzan said that the construc- tion of Barts Medical School – which was inaugurated yester- day – unlikely cost in excess of €3 million to carry out. The medical school he said, consisted in lecture rooms and offices, and would therefore cost far less than a bigger project, such as a hospital, to build and run. Despite this, the Maltese gov- ernment would be paying Stew- ard €1.3 million over 30 years for Barts Medical School, resulting in a €35 million total expense for the taxpayer. "But at least it's a fish in the bag not in the sea," he said. The new medical school was taking in 30 students annually he said, which led to two problems, one where GPs at health centres were being asked to leave their place of work when they were teaching Barts students, and the second where most hospital consultants were resisting taking up Barts students at Mater Dei. On the first issue, he said MAM had reached an agree- ment with Barts and the gov- ernment whereby doctors will not be required to give all their attentions to students and will continue treating their patients. Regarding the second, Balzan said MAM's position was neu- tral on the matter, and that any doctors who felt loyal to the University of Malta and wanted to teach only university students could do so, while those who were open to taking on Barts students were free to do that. 'Government must stop giving money to Steward Health Care' MAM President, Martin Balzan Medical Association of Malta head Martin Balzan insists government must stop giving money to Steward Health Care, who have to either fulfil their PPP contractual obligations or leave KURT SANSONE THERE were 413 taxpayers who benefitted from the 7.5% tax rate for athletes and coaches last year, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said. The information was tabled in Par- liament in response to a question by Opposition spokesperson Ryan Cal- lus. Scicluna said that in 2018, 413 peo- ple registered as football players, athletes or licenced coaches and had their income from sports taxed at the preferential rate. The beneficial rate applies to in- come derived from sporting activi- ties on a part-time or full-time basis. The lower tax rate had been intro- duced to encourage athletes who practice their sport on a professional or semi-professional basis declare their income. The reduced tax on part-time in- come was introduced in Budget 2014 as an incentive to draw footballers earning good money out of the black economy. In 2015 it was extended to water polo players and eventually to coaches and sporting people in 2016. Scicluna did not provide the amount of tax money collected from athletes and coaches who benefitted from the reduced rate in 2018. 400 athletes benefitted from 7.5% tax rate