PN calls on more clarity on Mater Dei Emergency expansion, new mental health wards

The Nationalist Party has called on the government to provide more clarity on the expansion of Mater Dei Hospital’s Emergency Department and the construction of new mental health wards.

“If the only accepted bid is double the government’s own estimate, is it possible the government does not even know the real market value of what it is requesting?” said Shadow Ministers Adrian Delia, Ian Vasallo, and Graham Bencini in a press statement on Tuesday.

The way this process has been handled raises serious concerns, the PN said, asking whether it is true that another party tried to submit a bid but was unable to do so.

The call for tenders, which closed on 4 April, aimed to address two critical healthcare needs: the expansion of the Emergency Department and the development of a new acute mental health hospital.

This comes after a report on the shift news claimed that the only bid submitted came in at double the estimated cost, while other potential bidders were unable to submit their offers due to technical limitations within the system. 

The PN said that the Department of Contracts was immediately notified of the problem and had initially promised to consult with the software provider in Greece.

They stated that “initially, it was said the process would be halted due to this issue, but someone later gave the order for it to continue as is, with just the one bid being valid. Who gave that order, and why?”

The PN MPs claimed the handling of this tender raises serious red flags and is similar the government’s past procurement failures, including the Vitals and Steward Health deals.

They stressed that lessons had clearly not been learned and vowed not to allow a repeat of what they described as a theft from the public.

“The PN is determined to ensure full transparency,” they said, “We will not allow the health of the Maltese and Gozitan people to be played with again.”