Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/944442
maltatoday WEDNESDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2018 News 3 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The decision was communi- cated to the PBS board of direc- tors, that recently terminated the employment of John Bundy after his political appointment to CEO of the national broadcaster, in Au- gust 2016. The board and CEO locked horns over Bundy's profligate spending, with the car leasing contract – which totals at least €469,000 when including VAT – becoming the subject of an inter- nal inquiry by auditors RSM. In September 2017, the PBS board passed a motion of no con- fidence in Bundy after learning of the car leasing contract. Bundy had only raised the issue once at board level on 18 January, when he sought advice on replacing PBS's ageing car fleet. The new investigation confirms previous reports by MaltaToday that PBS ignored clear rules to is- sue a public call for tenders, and instead obtained quotations from leasing suppliers. But it has now emerged that meetings were held with the prospective supplier, Burmarrad Commercials, before the compa- ny submitted its 'winning' quota- tion. "It is clear that the conduct by [PBS] seems, a prima facie, to have been focused to advantage the award of the quotations to Burmarrad Commercials. This is in flagrant breach of the procure- ment regulations." It was only after a meeting with Burmarrad Commercials' representatives at PBS, that the company's final quotation was actually submitted. In an email, the representative later told PBS employees: "…It was a great pleas- ure meeting you this morning. As discussed please find attached the revised quotations for the leasing of a fleet of vehicles for PBS." Contracts Department director- general Anthony Cachia said the email and the fact the company had submitted its winning quo- tation after the meeting, meant Burmarrad Commercials was "an accomplice" in PBS's breach of rules. "This by its very essence breach- es the principle of equal treatment and transparency. Apart from the fact that it is very unorthodox that quotations are subject to discus- sions, especially if such discus- sions took place with one of the potential suppliers, such conduct is clearly in breach of the funda- mental principle which should underlie each procurement pro- cess." There was an additional breach: the €398,000 contract was artifi- cially split into 13 individual con- tracts, each representing the cars being leased – one of which was for John Bundy. The Contracts DG said there was "no justifiable objective rea- son" but for the express aim of circumventing public procure- ment rules. "Such a breach is to be considered an extremely serious breach… consequently, the ensu- ing contracts should be termi- nated." Each contract was also in excess of €20,000, which in itself should have instantly necessitated a call for tenders. Only contracts whose value is less than €10,000 can be procured by direct order. The investigation sought Bur- marrad Commercials' version of events, and the company has 10 days to appeal the Contracts De- partment's decision. Bundy sacked The investigation's decision will vindicate a decision by the PBS board of directors to sack John Bundy, a veteran television pre- senter appointed to the PBS job in 2016 without a public call for ap- pointment. In late September, the PBS's board of directors unanimously passed a motion of no confidence, after directors accused Bundy of showing a "lack of awareness of what the relationship should be between CEO and the board of directors." They accused Bundy of taking arbitrary decisions, which were presented to the board as a fait accompli, and the directors were faced with threats of legal action against them personally and the company." The directors said they could no longer tolerate the situation and declared they had no faith in Bundy. Bundy was said to have only once alerted the board of direc- tors about the possibility of car leasing. But the contract itself was never green-lit by the board. Suspiciously, the person actually responsible for procurement at PBS, corporate services manager Edmund Tabone, was completely side-lined and left in the dark about the deal. Instead, it was left up to Mario Micallef, the manag- er for advertising sales, to gather the quotations. Although MaltaToday reported a total of 14 different contracts signed for a car lease, the con- tracts investigation dealt with 13 cars, all leased for a total of eight years, varying from the cheap- est for €230 monthly (plus VAT), to the highest being €600 (plus VAT), which was meant to be Bundy's car. One of the more curious aspects of the deal was that – according to board minutes seen by MaltaTo- day – one of the cars was for the exclusive use of Natalino Fenech, the former PBS head of news, who in 2013 stepped down from his position after Labour's election. According to the directors' min- utes, Fenech was "still on PBS' payroll with all perks and allow- ances", despite his secondment to the University of Malta as a lec- turer. PBS met Burmarrad Commercials before the company submitted its 'winning' quotation YANNICK PACE LABOUR MEP Miriam Dalli has insisted on the need to differentiate be- tween recreational can- nabis use and medicinal cannabis when discussing policy on the subject. Speaking during an ex- change of views with the European Commission on the use of medicinal can- nabis, Dalli said it was im- portant not to confuse me- dicinal cannabis products with the use of cannabis for medical purposes. Unlike simply using rec- reational cannabis – the production of which is unregulated – to treat dif- ferent medical conditions, medicinal products derived from the cannabis plant normally contain active ingredients in the plant that possess therapeutic properties, while omitting ingredients with psychoac- tive effects. Moreover, these prod- ucts are produced under standard conditions, al- lowing for specific dosing and traceability, with Dalli stressing that the debate on medicinal cannabis needed to be "solely focused on the development of products made in highly regulated and controlled environ- ments". "It´s about traceability, it's about safety and once these are ensured, the next step is to ensure that patients have equal access to it," said the Labour MEP. "What´s the point of regulation if only the few would have access to that kind of medicine?" The exchange of views was prompted by an own initiative report by the Eu- ropean Parliament, intend- ed to make its position on the subject known. Dalli also emphasised the need for research, point- ing out that there were 113 active compounds in the plant. "Although there is ongoing research on the use of medicinal cannabis in relation to other condi- tions, we need to have more information and we need to know much, much more." She welcomed steps made by a number of countries including Malta, Israel and Denmark, which recently launched a four-year trial scheme, adding that it was her hope that these devel- opments would result in more research. Most MEPs who ex- pressed their views ac- knowledged the beneficial properties of the medica- tion, while also calling for more research, especially on the part of European in- stitutions, in order to plot a way forward. Medicinal cannabis use can't be confused with recreational, Miriam Dalli tells EP committee Labour MEP Miriam Dalli