Partit Demokratiku has hit out at the "trend where advantageous deals are being given to private entities."
The PD "views with increasing disquiet the trend under this government where advantageous deals are given to private entities, being spun as ways of bringing investment and employment in Malta, are being sold - or the original land use envisaged changed - to the advantage of the private entity and to the detriment of the public good and purse. "
"This is an increasing trend which is pathological of successive governments," the PD said
The PD mentioned a few examples.
"Smart City, land given at very advantageous terms to Tecom Investments to create employment in primarily knowledge based jobs is now being sold on plan for luxury accommodation in the Shoreline development by Ricasoli Properties. Have the terms of the lease of the land been revised to reflect this change of use?," the PD asked.
"The concession given to Vitals to develop and run the Gozo General, Karin Grech and St. Luke's Hospitals has now been sold onto Steward Health Care. How much of the investment in the past two years by Vitals came from their own funds, and how much was reinvested public money? If Vitals made a profit from the sale, what proportion is due to the country as it is public property that is the main asset in the sale?," the PD also asked.
Turning their aim towards the American University of Malta, the PD said "AUM has been given prime shoreline land in an ODZ site at Marsascala to develop its campus. Recent reports indicate that AUM is not managing to attract students to Malta and has sliced its projected intake for next year by more than half. We urge that Zonqor point will not be touched before the Cospicua campus is operating at full capacity. We underline that if no development is made at Zonqor point within eight years, the land can be reclaimed by the government. We hope that if AUM fails to deliver this land concession will not be used for other purposes, as is guaranteed within the contractm and will be returned to the people."
The PD also targeted Electrogas. "It was announced that the government guarantee for the financing of Electrogas has now been withdrawn. The guarantee itself was questionable as it allowed a private company to operate, selling energy back to the same government and above market prices. De facto, the Maltese public was helping a company to sell energy back to it at a huge profit. Electrogas can, if it wants, sell its assets onto another company at a profit kept by itself thanks to this deal. A company made more attractive by our taxes."
Turning to the DB Group, the PD said: "The land concession to the DB group to build a hotel/apartment complex on the land previously occupied by the Institute for Tourism Studies (ITS) at St. George's Bay was given at a price way below market value, and with incredibly easy terms of payment. It would have been even lower if not for the timely intervention of Marlene Farrugia. To add insult to injury, the transfer of ITS to Smart City is costing so much, the country will effectively be out of pocket."
The party also mentioned Crane Currency.
"Extremely advantageous terms were given to Crane Currency to invest in Malta. So advantageous, it seems, that when Crane currency was recently sold, the main selling point was the investment in Malta. This has not only drawn the attention of PD but also of former Labour Prime Minister Alfred Sant."
"We have to ask, what is going on? Maltese public funds are being used to subsidise private companies who then go on to make huge profits benefiting from the terms conceded by the government."
The PD questioned the terms of all these contracts and concessions. "We question whether in its enthusiasm to sign deals, the current government is really taking what is best for this country into account. We question whether under-selling public assets has any benefit for the Maltese tax payer or whether it benefits other vested interests. We demand that government seek to recoup any profit garnered due to the use of public funds. We urge that further contracts, concessions and deals are put under much more intense scrutiny prior to being signed. We again ask the Auditor General to use the powers vested in him by the constitution to not only investigate past agreements made by previous governments but to also investigate all the recent contracts mentioned so as to safeguard the interest of the Republic."
from The Malta Independent http://ift.tt/2lvChJ1
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