Land reclamation: expression of interest kept under ‘confidentiality’ wrap

Bidders for land reclamation projects are being asked to sign a confidentiality agreement in which they acknowledge the government's discretion on deciding whether to issue a competitive tender or not after the initial bids are analysed by the Government Property Division.

Moreover documents related to the government's call for expression of interest (EOI) for a "concession for the reclamation of land in Maltese waters" are only available against a €5000 fee and the signing of a confidentiality agreement binding bidders not to disclose any information contained in the EOI documents to third parties for the next three years.

Moreover, the EOI process is not being handled by the Department for Contracts but by the Government Property Division, which falls under the portfolio of Parliamentary Secretary for Planning and Simplification Michael Farrugia.

The confidentiality agreement which bidders are being asked to sign hints that a decision has still has to be taken on whether a competitive process will ever take place.

In the binding confidentiality agreement bidders have to "acknowledge and agree that the government has absolute discretion in deciding whether "to follow the EOI Document Process with a process and/or a competitive process".

Moreover, the covering letter sent to bidders interested in the EOI, states that in the event that the government decides to proceed with initiating a competitive process for the award of a "concession", participants in the EOI "may be invited" by the Government Property Division to participate in the process.

The details of this "competitive process" would be outlined in a request for proposal documentation, which would be issued by the Government Property Division at a later stage.

MaltaToday has asked for a copy of the EOI document issued for prospective bidders interested in the government's land reclamation plan.

The Government Property Division replied to this request asking the journalist to sign a confidentiality agreement and pay €5,000 to collect the document, as is the case with any prospective bidder.

The EOI contains valuable public information, including a CD pointing out ecologically sensitive areas and other limitations.

The government has refused to conduct any prior studies to identify a suitable site for this project and has ignored a previous study by Danish experts Carl Bro, which had identified only two suitable sites for land reclamation  (namely Bahar ic-Caghaq and a stretch of coastline between Marsascala and Xghajra) and a €400,000 study by British experts Scott Wilson, which deemed land reclamation projects unfeasible unless massive real estate development is included in the project. 

The study also points out at ecological constraints due to the presence of the EU protected posidonia meadows in Maltese waters.

Parliamentary Secretary Michael Farrugia defended this choice saying that developers are being asked to "think out of the box" and the government would only exclude certain zones where such a project would come in conflict with public infrastructure.

"The government is not aiming for real estate development but a mix of projects," Farrugia said, without going into specifics, when launching the EOI on July 9.

Expressions of Interest will be received by the Government Property Division by not later than 29 November 2013 and will be subject to the  payment of a non-refundable submission fee of €10,000.

The confidentiality agreement binds bidders for three years not to disclose any information, except to parties who are directly involved with its assessment of the EOI document and to ensure that these persons do not disclose such information to any person.

The recipient shall take all actions necessary to prevent the disclosure of information to any other person.

Bidders who decide not to participate in the EOI after reading the documents are asked to immediately destroy any documentation or deliver it back to the government.