Documents withheld from parliament to hide secret deal with Bonnici Brothers

The government is refusing to reveal the details of an out-of-court settlement reached with Burmarrad’s Bonnici Brothers over a series of expensive construction failures at the newly built Ta’ Kandja shooting range.

PN MP Carm Mifsud Bonnici asked for a copy of the agreement in four separate parliamentary questions. Instead of making the information available, Education Minister Clifton Grima submitted different documents from those requested on four consecutive occasions over four months.

Sportsmalta, the government authority that signed the deal, used the same tactic when The Shift filed a Freedom of Information request.

The documents given to parliament and The Shift only concern the original multi-million-euro tender that was the leading cause of the dispute. They do not include the agreement SportMalta CEO Mark Cutajar and Bonnici Brothers CEO Gilbert Bonnici signed last October.

Abela worked as a lawyer for Bonnici Brothers before becoming prime minister.

In a complete disregard for ethical rules, Abela and his wife Lydia entered into a business deal with CEO Gilbert Bonnici to develop a block of apartments in Iklin, earning hundreds of thousands from the venture.

Since Abela became prime minister, Bonnici Brothers has won multi-million-euro tenders and direct orders across every sector, including a recently struck-down €600 million incinerator project at Maghtab.

The firm was also given a tender to build a €37 million temporary power plant at Delimara despite having no experience in this area.

The Shooting range debacle

Disgraced former prime minister Joseph Muscat announced the shooting range project during the last days of the 2017 electoral campaign. Almost all the work was obtained through irregular direct orders, 60% of which were awarded to the Bonnici Brothers.

The shooting range ended up costing taxpayers €13 million instead of the projected €7 million, and was completed with so many defects that it is rarely used. It was described by the National Audit Office as an exercise in maladministration tarnished by excessive costs and work not covered by contracts.

According to a technical report drafted by Architect Robert Musumeci’s office, the work carried out by Bonnici Brothers was not up to standard.

Sportmalta initiated legal proceedings against Bonnici Brothers to try to recoup some of the damages, but out-of-court negotiations began soon after Abela took office, and an agreement was reached last year.

It is not yet clear whether the government agreed to drop its claims, who is paying for the damage, and when remedial works are to be completed.

Transport Minister Chris Bonett was then in charge of the project as acting CEO of Sportmalta and was identified by the NAO as the person responsible for the irregular direct orders to Bonnici Brothers.