PM calls on Busuttil to explain details of whistleblower meeting

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat called on Opposition leader Simon Busuttil to explain the details of his meeting with a Gozitan whistleblower.

“This is a very serious matter,” Muscat said during a political activity in Kirkop. “If Busuttil had the information in his hands, then why didn’t he report it to the Police Commissioner?”

PN secretary general Chris Said admitted today that he and Busuttil had spoken to a Gozitan contractor about payments he had yet to receive for construction works funded by the Gozo Ministry. 

MaltaToday reported how a whistleblower has come forward reporting a devious scheme by which Gozitan constituents were approached Giovanna Debono's husband, Anthony Debono, and offered construction material for free. Two other whistleblowers have since come forward to substantiate claims that they were asked to carry out construction work for private residences or businesses by the Ministry for Gozo.

Muscat called for “full scrutiny” over Said’s declaration.

Muscat toasts new €100 million healthcare investment

Muscat also praised this morning’s announcement that a private hospital will be constructed within SmartCity.

€100 million will be invested into ‘St. John Paul II Hospital’ by a new Maltese-Italian company, with the strategic partnership of pharmaceutical company Johnsons and Johnsons and the La Sapienza University in Rome.

“This hospital will provide specialized orthopaedic and neurology treatment, as well as a centre where medicines will be created according to the needs of individual patients,” Muscat said. “This hospital will also be a centre for sports medicine, where the International Olympic Committee and the Italian Federation for sports medicine will offer a number of services that are expected to attract a wide range of athletes.”

The government is also expecting a €200 million investment from the private sector to transform the Gozo General Hospital (GGH) and St Luke’s Hospital in Gwardamangia into medical hubs and sites of medical tourism. An agreement with the Queen Mary University of London was also signed with Professor Anthony Warrens, institute director at the Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry to open an overseas campus in Gozo in September 2016

Muscat said that Malta has a future as a “centre of medical excellence”, but that the next challenge is to encourage more youth to study medicine and health.