Criminologist to evaluate iconic Evans Building multi-million-euro tender

Prime Minister Robert Abela has put a criminologist and three permanent secretaries with no knowledge of the luxury hotel industry or the evaluation of multi-million-euro tenders to choose the best bidder for the takeover of the iconic Evans Building in Valletta to be turned into a 5-star hotel.

Raising further suspicions of wrongdoing during the ongoing selection process, Abela chose Associate University Professor Saviour Formosa, specialising in criminology, as chairman of the evaluation committee.

The other members of the evaluation board are government permanent secretaries Matthew Vella (education ministry), Sharlo Camilleri (agriculture ministry) and Godwin Mifsud (transport ministry).

None of the evaluation committee members are known to have any expertise in the tourism industry or public procurement.

For some reason, the ministries for finance, tourism and economy have been left out in what is being suspected is a move by the Office of the Prime Minister to control the process.

Formosa, who has the biggest say in the process as the evaluation committee’s Chair, is regularly selected to sit on committees that have nothing to do with his expertise, such as the Media Experts Committee set up for reforms required for freedom of expression.

Manoeuvres taking place

Bidding closed five months ago, with six consortia and companies submitting offers ranging from €40.7 million to just €1.2 million for the 65-year concession.

One of the main points of contention seems to be the low bid submitted by the Valletta Luxury consortium, including the Decesare Eden Leisure Group and Iniala’s Mark Weingard.

Other bidders are arguing the offer should be disqualified as it does not meet the minimum financial requirements of the tender.

Valletta Luxury Consortium is arguing its bid of €1.2 million was per year and that it was not the total of its offer for the 65-year deal.

The Shift is informed that the Department of Contracts is insisting that the Decesare/Weinguard bid is invalid. However it seems there is pressure from the OPM for the department to retain bidders in the process, all of whom are influential developers with close ties to the Party in government.

The highest financial bids were submitted by Katari Hospitality (€40.7 million), wholly owned by GAP’s Paul Attard, who is also the general secretary of the influential construction lobby MDA, and Iconic Hotels Malta/ Nobu (€39.3 million), with Julian and Veronica Zammit Tabona of the Arrigo Group among investors.

Most of the selection is based on the technical aspect of the bid, opening it up to subjective interpretations by the evaluation committee.

Silvio Debono’s Seabank Group (€20.9 million) and AX Group of Angelo Xuereb (€22.6 million) seem to be the ones exerting pressure on the OPM to argue that despite their lower financial offer, they are superior on the technical side.

The closing date for the bid was moved three times, even though this was not permitted. According to a clarification note issued for the tender, the Department of Contracts insisted with prospective bidders that “no further extensions to the closing date for this request for proposals are being effected (sic).”

Yet the closing date was first moved by six weeks to mid-April, then by another three days, and again by another week to 28 April, and always at the last minute.

This also feeds concerns that the process is manipulated to suit select bidders.

It seems that some bidders used the extended closing time obtained through lobbying at the OPM to change their past audited accounts presented to the Malta Business Registry and on which their qualification on their financial offer stands.

According to the Request for Proposals, bidders had to meet strict minimum financial selection criteria based on their company’s performance between 2018 and 2021 to qualify.

Within an area of around 3,327 square metres, Evans Building site is located on Merchants Street, near the tip of the Valletta peninsula. The site includes the Evans Building – a four-storey building built in 1952 with a built-up footprint of around 1,080 square metres per level.

The call for proposals states that the original purpose of the Evans Building was to serve as a university laboratory, but until recently, it has housed several government departments.

Architectural features dating back to the Knights of Malta are located beneath the building’s grounds and must be restored as part of this multi-million-euro project.