Shadow minister lambasts ‘Europe’s most secretive government’

The government is earning a reputation as Europe’s most secretive government, shadow justice minister Jason Azzopardi said.

In his parliamentary adjournment, Azzopardi provided twenty examples on how the government is “concealing information” from the public.

1. The government’s contract with Shanghai Electric Power (SEP) for the sale of the BWSC power plant has not been published.
2. The government’s power-purchase agreement with SEP has not yet been published, meaning that the public still doesn’t know how much energy the BWSC will sell to Enemalta or how much money SEP are obliged to invest to convert the BWSC plant from oil to gas.
3. The government’s contract with the Electrogas for the latter’s construction of a new gas power station hasn’t been published.
4. Enemalta’s fuel hedging deal with SOCAR Trading has not been published.
5. The government’s contract with Electrogas that grants the latter the right to use land to build a power station has not been published.
6. The government’s agreement with Enel Trade for the purchase of power from an interconnector linking Malta with Sicily has not been published.
7. The government has failed to properly explain why it blacked out fourteen clauses in its contract with Henley and Partners, the concessionaries of the Individual Investor Programme for the sale of Maltese citizenship.
8. The report on MP’s honoraria under the previous administration that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had commissioned shortly after getting elected has not been published.
9. The contract through which the General Worker’ Union leased the A3 tower in Marsa to Transport Malta has not been published.
10. The contract through which the GWU leased part of its headquarters to ARMS Ltd has not been published.
11. The Lands Departments’ documents related to the government’s Café Premier “bailout” have not been published.
12. A report justifying the selection of Eden Leisure as the operators of a new casino has not been published.
13. An inquiry report into how ex-police commissioner Peter Paul Zammit allegedly halted disciplinary proceedings against a man who assaulted police officers at the Zabbar police station has not been published
14. An Order of Merit that led to the promotion of Jeffrey Curmi as Commander of the Armed Forces has not been published.
15. A list of direct orders, including one particular one worth €200,000, for the new power station has not been published.
16.  An inquiry report into how a ship disappeared from the Grand Harbour back in May 2013 has not been been published.
17. The direct orders granted to Tec Limited, an events services company owned by Enemalta and seconded by the GWU, to provide outdoor catering services to the government has not been published.
18. A number of ministers, as well as the Prime Minister, have refused to publish the names and contract details of people that they have employed on a position-of-trust basis.
19. Reports into how several people allegedly tampered their smart meters have not been published.
20. The government’s contract with new public transport providers Autobuses de Leon has not been published.

“The norm has become the absurd, and scandals have become the norm,” Azzopardi said. “The people have grown immune to the fresh scandals that keep cropping up.

 “However, you can’t fool the people all the time and the chickens will come home to roost. I recently met up with people from the south of Paola, a staunchly Labourite are, who are starting to realize that the government is hiding information and playing them for fools.”