Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1497813
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 APRIL 2023 NEWS Opera onal Programme I – European Structural and Investment Funds 2014-2020 "Fostering a compe ve and sustainable economy to meet our challenges" Project part-financed by the Cohesion Fund Co-financing rate: 85% European Union Funds; 15% Na onal Funds CONNECTING THE DROPS CIRCULAR WATER MANAGEMENT FOR URBAN GREENING THE ENERGY & WATER AGENCY IN COLLABORATION WITH MCAST & UNIVERSITY OF MALTA INVITE YOU TO AN INTERACTIVE WORKSHOP ON: This interactive workshop will provide an opportunity for students and recent graduates to meet and learn from people working in the water sector. Interested in making your voice heard and to propose sustainable solutions? Join us to learn and contribute as we very much look forward to what will be proposed by the next generation. We will offer work placements for PAID INTERNSHIPS. Register Now. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ATTENDING, KINDLY REGISTER ON WATER.ORG.MT/JOIN-THE-DROPS/WORKSHOP-WATER-SECTOR/, BY CALLING 27772777 OR EMAIL ON INFO@EMCS.COM.MT THU 27 TH APRIL 2023 between 8:30 and 15:00 FRI 28 TH APRIL 2023 between 8:30 and 13:00 AT ESPLORA lished when the deed was signed in 2019. The deed sets out the yearly ground rent at €150,000 an- nually for the first three years and increases through an "escalation" formula in subsequent years. Moreover, no provision was made for clawback provisions through which the University would benefit from a share of the profits generated throughout the entire lifetime of the concession. Instead, the university had opted for "a secure income stream rather that profit sharing," in a way that if the project registered a loss, it would still have an income stream. However, the NAO contends that securing a secure income stream and securing a share in profits "are not mutually exclusive". Lost consultation report The report also laments no for- mal public consultation and broad discussion with major stakehold- ers prior to the issue of the Re- quest for Proposals which eventu- ally led to student protests related to car park fees. The report refers to the criticism made by students and academics on various aspects of the project. The report attributes this to the fact that "stakeholders were not kept fully abreast of major devel- opments and the project" and to the absence of an Environmental Impact Assessment that triggers an automatic public consultation process. The report also reveals that a de- tailed project financial evaluation was only carried out as part of the tender evaluation process rather than at the project inception stage. The university argued that, at the preliminary stage of this project, it sought consultancy services with respect to the project's viability of the proposed approach. None- theless, by the time of drafting its report, the NAO had not received from the UOM the ensuing con- sultancy report, stating that it was lost during the transfer of the Malta University Holdings Com- pany (MUHC) offices from Lija to Campus Hub. The medical school quandary The auditor also refers to the lack of consultations with the Ma- ter Dei Hospital (MDH), especial- ly since the land earmarked for the project had planning restrictions limiting its use to education and health. The insufficient consultation and coordination with the hospi- tal had a significant effect on the completion of the project due to a dispute with government over the relocation of the medical school to the campus hub. This is because the development permit allocates one of the blocks in the campus hub for the con- struction of the medical school. According to the NAO this im- plies that the university allowed for a contract variation that went outside the scope of the RfP for a university residence and commu- nity complex. Through such a contract var- iation the university "has en- croached on the principle of fair competition as, at RFP stage, bid- ders were not aware that six levels in one of the blocks could cater for the medical school". This also implies that potential bidders were not able to antici- pate the possibility of generating revenue through the leasing of space within the Campus Hub to accommodate the medical school. This situation arose because "nei- ther government nor university have issued a separate call for bids to relocate the medical school". This quandary meant that the medical school remained incom- plete by the end of 2022 when the NAO report was finalised. The car park quandary The UOM had requested po- tential bidders to submit a finan- cial option for the lease of under- ground car parking spaces to cater for the university's needs. The Vassallo Group offered to allocate 140 parking slots at the lease rate of €1,060 per slot per annum, increasing annually by the rate of inflation. But the con- tract signed in May 2019, did not include any such provisos. The lease of such parking spaces was to be negotiated and conclud- ed directly between the successful bidder and the Ministry for Ed- ucation. But no such agreement was ever reached. The Auditor General concluded that this situation could have been averted through proper planning during the competitive bidding stage. doubts' on tender process fairness Former rector Juanito Camilleri Campus Hub