Who is footing the bill?

After 17 years and an incredible spending spree to build a huge public hospital which cost hundreds of millions and still could take only fewer beds than the overcrowded hospital it replaced – such was the generosity of space that wards and corridors took, as if Malta, one of the smallest islands in the world, were Australia, the world’s biggest island and smallest continent – we are regaled with the great news that the whole hospital was built with faulty cement work.

It is a weak construction.

This serious deficiency was not restricted only to the emergency department, as we were told at first, before the whole structure was examined, but to the whole damn hospital, a professional going over at it has found.

It sounds like a story out of a Bangladeshi newspaper report.

Mater Dei has been a history of profligate waste, horrible planning and, apparently, abysmally weak overseeing. 

This is a public hospital, state-of-the-art, too, that was opened with much fanfare to the public before the 2008 election, that returned the government that built it with a meagre majority of well under 2,000 votes. By the way – it was built in a special ODZ area. 

Mater Dei still does not have enough beds to cater for an ever-ageing population and is concocted in such a way that it is too costly to run. 

We are told that there is the possibility of a serious incident in the hospital if there were to be some minor seismic activity. That possibility is not high but it is also not low.

It is enough to worry those who administer the hospital and who know about the problem.

The first reaction to this sombre news story by the leader of opposition, Simon Busuttil, was more than predictable. He said that he was not a politician at the time.

Simon Busuttil conveniently decides to stop being a Nationalist or a politician when there is something that sheds a dark or threatening light on his party’s recent past. He assumes only the successes of the PN, such as they were. Never its serious misdeeds.

Conveniently he embraces the past and rejoices about the past when there is something positive he can brag about.

That is politics for you.

On Friday, Busuttil told the media that it is the technical people who should be held responsible for the works at the hospital.

If that were the case, then the first thing he should do is to turn to his chief executive officer at the PN headquarters, Brian St John, and ask him to enlighten him about all the allegations being made.

The allegations, by the way, are rather serious, the dangerous and poor construction poses a serious safety hazard if ever there were to be a minor earth tremor. 

Brian St John was recently appointed CEO at the PN after his long stint as CEO at the Foundation for Medical Services. The FMS were and remain responsible for overseeing the project management of the health sector. 

Mater Dei was the brainchild of the Nationalist administration and from the very first day it drained public coffers and cost the taxpayer the tune of €600 million.  

How much of this money went to oiling those who apparently purposely and knowingly provided low quality cement for the construction is unclear. But it probably runs into millions.  

Rumours suggest that the amount could run to €50 million. Some gravy train, that was.

In the meantime private companies made a killing quoting excessive prices and working under a very loose management structure.

The habit of sucking the government dry is something some Maltese companies specialised in tendering or acting as recipients of direct orders are very well known for.

The big story in all this mess, is exemplified by one simple word, exoneration.

Exoneration is a big word, though slightly shorter than accountability. The companies and personnel who worked on this project were exonerated from anything that could have gone wrong with the project.

It makes the whole news story even more sinister.

Those who managed, worked on, provided for and participated in the construction of the works at Mater Dei were effectively absolved from any penalties by a contract that basically shafted the same Maltese government. That is the Maltese-government-that-was for you.

It is more than a scandal. In reality it illustrates a government with no interest in safeguarding the interests of the State.

It also promotes a Mafia culture that is inexcusable, though the genuine Mafia we are well aware of is not so distant from us.

Those who pilfered the cement knew exactly what they were doing.

It is as if someone sells you a car or a washing machine and invites you to relinquish the guarantee and free parts service that is usually offered to you for a number of years, as part of the price you pay.

In another country they would do what someone puerile and silly wrote in The Sunday Times about the American University, which was to line them all up and shoot them.

The least we can do is find those who are legally culpable and inject some accountability into the system.

Ray Ferris, a senior Enemalta official, was found not guilty after being paraded on the front pages of the friendly press before March 2013. Ferris is a destroyed man and has had his reputation more than dented. If I were he, I would sue the government.

On the other hand, what surfaced from the 114-page court decision is that George Farrugia did not tell the truth. What I mean to say is that George Farrugia lied.

Well, once again, I am not going to enter into the merits as to whether Lawrence Gonzi should have recommended a presidential pardon for him.

What I know is that George Farrugia, the rogue oil trader, should have his pardon withdrawn, and be made to face the music.

Anyone with some time for bedtime reading should really read through the court sentence. It reveals the Attorney General’s imagination in concocting accusations against Ferris, based on imaginary facts. There is creativity for you.

What a sad situation we all face!