Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools silent on recouping costs for rebuild of Msida Primary School

The Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools (FTS) has not responded to questions about what costs it is planning to recoup following its orders to demolish the recently rebuilt Msida Primary School.

Government Gazette records show that a total of around €3.4 million was spent on financing the rebuild after it was demolished in 2017. The contract for architectural designs was issued to MADE Studio, costing taxpayers €121,705, while the contract for construction, awarded to C&F Building Contractors Ltd, cost €3.3 million.

The FTS also did not respond to questions about the legal action it promised it would take following quality control inspections that determined the construction work was not up to scratch.

In 2017, then-education minister Justyne Caruana announced that the dilapidated primary school would be rebuilt, with the first batch of demolition works beginning in 2018 and the reconstruction commencing in 2019.

After construction was completed this year, the FTS announced a second batch of demolition works on the newly rebuilt part of the school.

An architect sitting on the FTS’ evaluation committee, Yanica Zammit, was involved in the initial design stages of the project. Zammit was also a former employee of MADE Studio, the architects awarded the contract to design the school after it was first demolished in 2018.

Both the contractors and the architects behind the project have made a significant amount of money from government contracts since 2016.

C&F Building Contractors Ltd, owned by Frank Schembri and Roberta Farrugia Schembri, made a total of €36.7 million in government contracts alone.

The bulk of that figure comes from major contracts awarded to Schembri’s company, including the construction of the institute of information and communication technology at MCAST, the design and build of the TRAKE building at the University of Malta, and the construction of another school in Rabat.

In total, C&F Building Contractors Ltd was awarded 14 contracts since 2016.

As for the architects, MADE Studio received a total of €426,450 since 2017, doled out over seven contracts issued through various government ministries.

One contract awarded to MADE Studio, a “framework agreement for the provision of a number of professional services across all the public administration”, did not list the amount awarded.