The call was made after Malta Labour Party (MLP) leader Dr Alfred Sant referred to the alleged abuses last month and challenged the  Minister and the WSC Chairperson Michael Falzon to “launch a public inquiry into what is occurring within the Corporation.”  

The motion was approved by Charles Mangion, the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, as well as deputy leader of the MLP.  Dr Sant will be asked by the Committee to give evidence of the various allegations he made with regards to the process of the tender relating to the North Malta and Gozo sewage treatment plants contract.  

Dr Sant implied that the contract was unjustly awarded to a Gozitan contractor who is in close contact with Minister for Gozo Giovanna Debono and Minister for Urban Development and Roads Jesmond Mugliett.  

The Opposition leader also alleged that the Chairman is covering up for the same contractor who allegedly did not carry out the works on the project appropriately, all to the knowledge of Minister Gatt.  

According to a statement issued on Tuesday by Dr Gatt’s Ministry,the Committee established that a number of claims set forward by Dr Sant were found to bear no truth. Among these were the allegations concerning the Gozitan contractor who is in supposed close contact with a number of Ministers. The Ministry said that in its meeting the Committee established that concerned the contractor “does not exist”.  

It also emerged that if any works were carried out badly, Dr Gatt was not aware of them.  

The Committee also agreed to engage a General Auditor to assess and provide a report on the possibility of variations in the expenditure planned for the sewage treatment plants contract in the North of Malta and Gozo.  

The variation orders were under scrutiny by Minister Gatt last month. In a letter to WSC Chairman Micheal Falzon, Minister Gatt said that in his view it was “unacceptable” that the variations were treated in a “superficial manner by the management”. The Chairman tendered his resignation soon after receiving the letter, however this was not accepted  by the Minister and he continues to serve the post to date.

During Tuesday’s session, the majority of the committee also voted against a motion set forward by Helena Dalli on behalf of the MLP representatives of the Committee. The motion proposed that the Committee was to be handed a report by the Auditor General regarding the allegations Minister Gatt set forward in a letter addressed to the WSC Chairman last month over the way the variation orders relating to the sewage treatment plants contract were handled.  

The motion also called for the Auditor General to present the report to the Parliament in the shortest time possible so it could be discussed by the same Committee.  

MLP representatives on the Committee deemed the voted against the report being drafted as a “sign of lack of trust in the office of the Auditor General by PN representatives.”