Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/764316
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 18 DECEMBER 2016 News 3 CONTINUEDÎ FROM PAGE 1 On his part, Bartolo has been under pres- sure over whether he was slow to re- spond to early suspicions and com- plaints over tendering processes at FTS. The minister has published in parliament a limited number of email conversations with Rizzo in a bid to prove he never contradicted Rizzo in his suspicions and that he had asked him to report his allega- tions to the police. Police have now investigated Caruana's links to various tenderers for the FTS contracts. "There is an enormous amount of paperwork that investigators are poring over, and they are looking in- to whether the tenders were specifi- cally drawn to favour one particular supplier," a police source said. Specifically, the source confirmed that tenders issued by FTS gave the edge to suppliers whose furniture was designed according to a par- ticular specification, last updated ten years ago. While the FTS tender process was open to any supplier, it was likely that such tenderers had to partner up with the sole importer of the specific furniture requested by FTS. A look at the offers made for furni- ture tenders in 2015 shows that the cheapest offers were always made by Sandro Ciliberti's company Al- Nibras for Science & Techology Ltd and Hangman Ltd, as well as by L&A Camilleri, a company owned by the Camilleri family, headed by Piju Camilleri, a henchman of the late, notorious Labour minister Lorry Sant. Most of the furniture seems to have originated from the Italian company Camillo Siriani, because of the unique design specifications laid down in the FTS contracts. In a letter to this newspaper, An- gelo Siriani, CEO of Camillo Siriani, stated that Camillo Siriani SAS was a school furniture manufacturing company selling its products in 25 countries. But he said the company had not appointed any exclusive importer for the Maltese market, where it has sold its furniture for over 15 years "to over 20 importers or retailers". Siriani specified that the company had sold products to six different Maltese companies in 2015. Siriani also insisted his products were of the highest quality as re- quested by the Foundation for To- morrow's Schools in its tenders, and added that they were "not of exclu- sive design". €9 million payments Edward Caruana has been report- ed to have been involved in person- ally passing on payment from FTS to its suppliers, which suggests his zeal in forwarding them a quick payment could have led to rewards for his expeditiousness. The public service is well known for being lead- footed in making payments. When Bartolo decided that Caru- ana was no longer suitable for the FTS post, he was transferred to the rural development department where he retained a €36,000 salary in his new posting, The Times re- ported. But last Sunday, Caruana sus- pended himself from the post when MaltaToday reported the investigation centred around his Rabat property. Ciliberti files protest Businessman Sandro Ciliberti, 45, whom MaltaToday was told had been proposed as a crucial middle- man to an FTS tenderer by Edward Caruana, this week filed a judicial protest against MaltaToday claim- ing that the news reports about him were unfounded and incorrect. Investigating police officers will open a line of inquiry into the busi- ness activities of Sandro Ciliberti, whose companies Hangman and Al-Nibras won various public ten- ders in 2015 for the provision of school equipment and furniture. When in January 2016, Ciliberti's residence in Gozo was targeted by an explosive device, MaltaToday had then reported that police in- vestigators were looking at the scale of public tenders clinched by Cili- berti's company Hangman and Al- Nibras over the past year. Al-Nibras specialises in the pro- curement of scientific products, chemicals and labware for pharma- ceutical and petro-chemical compa- nies, research centres and govern- ment institutions. Both Hangman (now defunct) and Al-Nibras were focused on the supply of lab equipment and school furniture to state schools, clinching some €2 million in public contracts since 2013, 75% of which were won in 2015. In the first half of 2015, Ciliberti's companies took 21 procurement contracts won by public tender af- ter submitting cheap and competi- tive offers: they included the supply of lab refrigerators, furniture and spectrophotometers for the Water Services Corporation, office furni- ture for the University of Malta, the Gozo Sixth Form, and various state schools. Most of the contracts were won in June and July. Ciliberti's two companies were also listed as among the main sup- pliers in state schools, according to information laid in parliament by education minister Evarist Bartolo. In all, Al-Nibras and Hangman are together listed 54 times as suppliers for products and services to 36 state schools. IN BOOK AT WWW.MADC.COM.MT OR BOOKINGS@MADC.COM.MT OR SMS 7777 6232 Investigators looking into financing of Rabat property President invites Pope Francis to visit Malta during EU presidency MIRIAM DALLI POPE Francis has turned 80, and whilst he spent the morning receiving messages of congratu- lations from around the world and sharing breakfast with eight homeless people, he continued his day with meetings, including one with President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca. The meeting comes ahead of Malta's six-month stint at the helm of the European Council, with the President taking the op- portunity to invite the Pontiff to the island during the Maltese EU presidency. During the presidency, Malta will be pushing the issue of mi- gration, hoping to unite Europe and follow its tradition of "bridge builder". Coleiro Preca, who in her Republic Day speech indicted the European deportation of long- term migrants, urged Pope Francis to give his support in finding last- ing humanitarian solutions to ir- regular migration. According to a statement re- leased by the Office of the Presi- dent, Coleiro Preca urged the Pon- tiff to assist Malta in this aspect with Member States. The President thanked Pope Francis for giving Maltese artists the opportunity to install a nativ- ity scene in St Paul's Square. It features 17 figures dressed in tra- ditional Maltese attire as well as a replica of a Maltese boat – it repre- sents Malta's seafaring traditions and also "the sad and tragic reality of migrants on boats". "In the painful experience of these brothers and sisters, we re- visit that (experience) of baby Je- sus, who at the time of his birth did not find accommodation and was born in a grotto in Bethlehem and then was brought to Egypt to escape Herod's threat," the Pope had said during the unveiling of the nativity scene. "Those who vis- it this creche will be invited to re- discover its symbolic value, which is a message of fraternity, sharing, welcoming and solidarity." Coleiro Preca also conveyed the prisoners' messages of thanks, fol- lowing the Pope's request to grant a 30-day amnesty to all prisoners. Accompanied by Foreign Af- fairs Minister George Vella and ambassador to the Vatican George Buttigieg, the President also held a meeting with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican State secretary. The talks focused on Malta's EU presidency. The President has invited Pope Francis to Malta (Photo: Clifton Fenech/DOI)