Questions being raised over final cost of EU-funded Gozo rubble walls project

Questions and eyebrows are being raised from Gozo to Brussels over the final €12 million cost of a two-year project that rebuilt around 30 kilometres of traditional rubble walls across the island.

The Shift is informed that “serious questions” are being asked about how the project, which was mostly EU-funded, ended up costing more than twice the normal market price for such work.

But neither the minister responsible for the project, Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri, nor Parliamentary Secretary for EU Funds Chris Bonett is making any information available.

They have been asked for details on exactly how many square metres of rubble wall had been built and/or restored through the project, to provide a list of the roads concerned and the cost per square metre.

It is not being excluded that Brussels will launch a probe – possibly by the EU’s anti-fraud office OLAF – into the final cost and to establish that all certifications required for the disbursement of funds are in order.

At a press event last January, Camilleri and Bonnet explained that, in all, around 30 kilometres of rubble wall had been built over the last two years at a cost of some €10 million.

Research conducted by The Shift shows that the project, which was 75% funded by the European Agriculture Fund for Rural Development, has exceeded the costs quoted by the Gozo Ministry by €2 million – a 20% overrun.

Allocated by tender to Gozo’s largest contractor, Road Construction Company Limited, for an original €9.6 million price tag, the company overran that by a whopping €1.5 million, and with the approval of additional funds having been cleared by the local authorities.

At the same time, around €400,000 was spent on project management, work that was allocated by tender to Meinhardt Malta Private Ltd, which is owned by a company based in Singapore.

All included – at €12 million for 30 kilometres – the rubble wall work wound up costing roughly €400 per metre.

Various local contractors contacted by The Shift quoted the current market price for rebuilding rubble walls with traditional methods at between €80 and €100 per square metre, materials included.

One expert in the field told The Shift that, at first glance, the government has paid at least three times the going market rate and posited that if the EU were to investigate the project, it would find some surprises.

Another person in the field highlighted that traditional rubble walls are built without the use of concrete, but that this was not the case with most of the new EU-funded rubble walls in question.

Some of the so-called rubble walls are, in fact, just concrete walls with cladding.

The EU does not normally issue funds before it ensures a project’s final certifications are all in place and after thorough checks, sometimes by independent surveyors, are carried out.

EU funds for rural affairs and agriculture are notorious for being linked to fraud.

According to the latest report issued by the European Public Prosecutors Office, there are currently 14 ongoing investigations on the use of EU funds in Malta.

The EPPO has five ongoing expenditure investigations in Malta, three of which deal with agricultural and rural development programmes,

It is not known whether the Gozo rubble walls project is one of them as such information is not divulged at investigation stage.