Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/748968
5 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 9 NOVEMBER 2016 News ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION ACT (CAP. 549), 2016 Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2007 (S.L. 549.46) NOTICE OF APPLICATION FOR DEVELOPMENT PERMISSION ACCOMPANIED BY AN ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING STATEMENT DEMOLITION OF EXISTING STRUCTURES AND CONSTRUCTION OF FUEL FILLING DEPOT INCLUDING ANCILLARY OFFICES, FACILITIES AND WIDENING OF ACCESS ROAD ĦAS SAPTAN, OFF VJAL L-AVJAZZONI, ĦAS-SAPTAN, GĦAXAQ, MALTA (PA 03607/16, EA 00003/16) Mr. Francis Cassar obo Enemed Co. Ltd. gives notice that application PA 03607/16 has been made to the Planning Authority (PA) for the Demolition of existing structures and construction of fuel filling depot including ancillary offices, facilities and widening of access road and that the application is accompanied by an Environmental Planning Statement (EPS). Members of the public may inspect copies of: 1. The application; 2. The plans; and 3. The Environmental Planning Statement, at the offices of the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) in Marsa and at the Għaxaq and Luqa Local Councils during office hours until 30 th November 2016. Members of the public may obtain copies of the Environmental Planning Statement from the ERA offices in Marsa as long as stocks last. The price of the document covers printing and production costs, and a price list is available at ERA. Digital copies of the EPS are available on the ERA website (https://era.gov.mt/en/Pages/PA03607_16.aspx). Anyone who wishes to make representations about this application should write to the Director of Environmental Affairs, Environment and Resources Authority, Hexagon House, Spencer Hill, Marsa, MRS 1441, or send an email to eia.malta@era.org.mt, by the 30 th November 2016. Date:9 th November 2016 PN demands parliamentary scrutiny of hospital contracts TIM DIACONO THE PN has called on the health parliamentary committee to scru- tinise the contracts signed between the government and Vitals Global Healthcare that will see the latter take over management of St Luke's, Karin Grech and Gozo's General Hospital. Citing Canadian court docu- ments, PN election candidate and radio host David Thake warned that VGH director Ram Tumuluri had been previously in charge of a Canadian hotel but quit the opera- tion just before it went bankrupt. He said the documents show he failed in his obligations to pay VAT to the Canadian authorities, that he deleted the company's account- ing records, and that he had stolen credit card deposits for guests, leav- ing the hotel with no cash to refund them. "When he was in Malta last year, Tumuluri said that none of the companies he ever managed ever went bankrupt and he is technically correct," Thake told a press con- ference. "However, his Canadian company [T&V Hospitality Inc] had accrued more debt than assets, and Tumuluri quit before it filed for bankruptcy and was struck off the companies' register." During a recent live show on his internet radio Switch, Thake tele- phoned an unnamed Canadian ven- ture capitalist who Tumuluri had once tried to source funds from. The investor recounted how Tumuluri – previously head of housekeeping at a motel in British Columbia, Canada – had grouped together a bunch of investors to take over management of the Nita Lake Lodge, a boutique hotel in the mountains of Whistler, that was be- ing administered by HSBC. While the hotel's fortunes flour- ished during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Tumuluri was unable to keep his finances afloat afterwards. "It was here that he asked me to invest in the hotel. When I saw it, I thought 'Holy shit, how can some- one not manage to make money out of this?'. However, the problem is that it's very expensive to maintain, which means that it requires exper- tise and a vision to lead – which Tu- muluri didn't have. "When the going got tough and the hotel was facing several li- abilities, Tumuluri – the sole sig- natory of the company's cash-flow – walked away, leaving a $200,000 VAT bill unpaid and taking deposits that guests had paid the hotel with him." 'Obvious stench of corruption' Shadow health minister Claudette Buttigieg warned that "a stench of corruption" surrounded the deal to have VGH run the three public hospitals. To back up her argument, she said that VGH was registered as a Maltese company just a few days before then health minister Konrad Mizzi had announced VGH as one of the preferred bidders for the ex- pression of interest the government issued, in May 2015. She also noted that the contract was signed on 30 November 2015, two days before audit firm Nexia BT partner Karl Cini had e-mailed Mossack Fonseca, instructing the Panamanian law firm to open off- shore companies for Mizzi him- self and OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri. Vitals Healthcare is owned by Bluestone Investments Malta Ltd, which is in turn owned by Blue- stone Situation 4 Ltd – registered as an offshore company in the Brit- ish Virgin Islands. VGH has since declared that Bluestone Situation 4 Ltd is owner and managed by the Oxley Group, the Singapore-based investment company whose man- aging director Mark Pawley appears as a VGH director. However, shadow Gozo minister Chris Said questioned who the ul- timate beneficiary of Oxley is, and claimed that the government had held discussions with the group be- fore even issuing a call for tenders for the hospital privatisation pro- ject. "This in itself renders the call for tenders null and void," Said said, while claiming that Tumuluri had already told people that Oxley was going to take charge of the hospitals before the call was even issued. Moreover, he questioned why Tumuluri has signed contracts on VGH's behalf, instead of the com- pany's chief executive Armin Ernst. tdiacono@mediatoday.com.mt From left to right: Opposition MPs Chris Said and Claudette Buttigieg and candidate David Thake addressing the press conference permit to demolish telephone exchange St Julian's. The UK firm had verbally informed Planning Author- ity executive chairman Johann Buttigieg about their work on engineering reports for the construction of Mercury House in Paceville, with the PA chair- man telling them to proceed with their masterplan consul- tancy. Planning parliamentary sec- retary Deborah Schembri later told the House environmen- tal and development planning committee that the govern- ment had not been told about the firm's dual roles, when Mott MacDonald was accused of holding a conflict of interest in devising the Paceville plan. The government is carrying out a review of the work carried out by the firm hired as lead consultant for the Paceville master plan.