Malta Independent’s hospital helipad ‘cover-up’ bungled by clerical error

The Malta Independent had to concede that its allegations of a ‘cover-up’ – this time on an inquiry concerning an unattended vehicle that blocked the St Luke’s Hospital helipad – were unfounded.

Just a week after Malta Enterprise announced libel proceedings, the newspaper said in its front page on Sunday that it was clear that no ME official or employee was “involved and that there was no cover-up on the part any Malta Enterprise official.”

But it turns out that the newspaper, after being unable to trace the car whose licence plate was written down on the Mater Dei Hospital incident report, decided to assume that the number had been erased: leading to the accusation of a “cover-up”.

The newspaper said that a clerical error in an official incident report by Mater Dei personnel on the morning of the blocked helipad incident at St Luke's Hospital, led to the newspaper’s erroneous conclusions in its “long investigation into whether or not there had been a cover-up of the incident.”

Records are kept by Mater Dei Hospital every time an AFM helicopter is required to transport a patient, whether from Gozo General Hospital or anywhere else.

In the Mater Dei report recording the incident leaked to the newspaper, the licence plate number of the vehicle in question was clearly recorded on two occasions as being LEF 606, and not LCF 606, which was the actual licence plate number as stated by Malta Enterprise earlier this week.

According to Mater Dei's report, a police officer phoned the vehicle’s owner after tracing the licence plate number of the offending vehicle in the early hours of 9 August. That person had confirmed that he had lent the vehicle to Malta Enterprise. 

“When that particular licence plate number did not show up from internal searches of the records and databases of Transport Malta or the Police Force, this newspaper naturally came to the conclusion that the number had been erased at some point between the police officer’s successful search on 9 August and the search carried out by our own sources this month.”

The Malta Independent said its investigation was “not instigated lightly” and that with the assistance of a whistleblower, the registration number recorded in the helicopter log book was checked against Transport Malta’s internal database.

The absence from TM’s records prompted the newspaper to check with police sources, who also failed to find any records relating to the registration number in question.

“Faced with this evidence, the most likely implication was that there had been an attempted cover up… when it comes to a car at the heart of a controversial incident, it would also be highly suspicious.”

Malta Enterprise sues for libel

Malta Enterprise filed a libel suit against The Malta Independent on Sunday over its reports on the badly parked car that had to be removed from the perimeter of the helipad adjacent to the Malta Enterprise offices in Gwardamangia to enable an AFM helicopter to land for a medical emergency.

A magisterial inquiry is still ongoing, but ME said the car in question was a grey Ford Focus, licensed LCF 606, which did not belong to any ME employee, nor was it leased by Malta Enterprise – but leased by Malta Industrial Parks for the general use of MIP employees.

Malta Enterprise and MIP offices are located in the same building and top officials of Malta Enterprise and MIP have reserved parking spaces well away from the helipad.

On Saturday 9 August early in the morning, security at St Luke’s Hospital complex informed the precincts manager of the building which houses both Malta Enterprise and MIP that an AFM helicopter was bound towards Gwardamangia due to a medical emergency.  As LCF 606 was parked in the helipad zone and as the keys to the car were unavailable, the said car was towed away.

MIP took disciplinary action against its employee – not a management level employee – responsible for leaving the car there the day before, on 8 August.

A charge was issued and he was suspended from work for a week.

Malta Enterprise also denied any attempt to ‘cover-up’ any fact or responsibility.

“Malta Enterprise and MIP employees were asked to testify in the process of the magisterial enquiry and they did so under oath.  Any statement or suggestion to the contrary is plainly a lie. Vehicle LCF 606 continues to be used by MIP.”

Malta Enterprise said the unfortunate incident was turned into a political affair in an attempt at tarnishing the reputation of Malta Enterprise and its employees “regardless of their political views.”