Opinion: Bonett’s bonanza

Transport Minister Chris Bonett bragged that Labour rebuilt 1,315 roads in the last few years and that another 200 roads will be resurfaced by next year – an effort he claimed was “unprecedented”.

His bubble quickly burst with one simple question: Which 1,315 roads were built, and which 200 roads will be redone by next year? Bonett couldn’t answer.

He gave repeated assurances that the list would be provided.  It wasn’t.  Now Infrastructure Malta announced that it won’t tell us. Why?  Because it would “substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the public authority from its other operations”.

So the minister can’t or won’t tell us which roads. He expects us to believe that Infrastructure Malta calculated the precise sum it would hand over to major contractors – €65.8 million – to rebuild 200 roads without having a list of those 200 roads.

Minister Chris Bonett and his predecessor paid €634.2 million to those same contractors to build 1,315 roads, but he hasn’t bothered to check which roads they built, let alone ensure that the work done was up to standard or that they were rebuilt at all.

If Bonett doesn’t even know which roads were rebuilt, how is he sure they were done?  And why did he pay the staggering amount of €634.2 million out of our taxes?

If he doesn’t even know which 200 roads will be rebuilt, how does he know it will cost €65.8 million?

There’s only one explanation – Bonett cannot reply because there weren’t 1,315 roads rebuilt.  And that begs the question, where did those hundreds of millions of our money go? Why were those contractors still paid when targets were not met?  What penalties did they incur for failure to meet timelines?

In Manikata, for example, road repairs are still ongoing on the same short stretch of road three years after work commenced.  In Msida, work was completed over nine months late, disrupting traffic and people’s lives.

Bonett bragged in parliament that Labour’s “€700 million project to rebuild all Malta’s roads is almost complete”.  We all live in Malta.  Ask yourself – was your road rebuilt or at least resurfaced?

Labour couldn’t have rebuilt “all” Malta’s roads.  Yet nobody bothers with whatever Labour ministers say.

We all know it’s fiction. We’re used to their hyperbolic claims, which fall apart at the first question.  Their hot air quickly evaporates when they’re asked for details.

But Labour’s secrecy is far more concerning, especially when there’s €700 million of our money at stake. And especially when Bonett is involved.

The last time he was responsible for a much smaller project, the ta’ Kandja shooting range, the Auditor General held him responsible for “gross mismanagement, weak controls and various financial irregularities”.

He admitted, “Yes, I ordered some of the direct orders.” Almost 60% of all those direct orders went to Bonnici Brothers, whose director, Gilbert Bonnici, was Robert Abela’s business partner.

Labour promised “the shooting range would be one of the best in Europe”. Instead, it lies practically dilapidated. Parts of the safety curtain have been ripped off, paved areas are overgrown with weeds, and massive cracks are appearing. Due to its state of disrepair, parts of the range remain closed.

That shooting range was meant to cost the state €7 million.  Instead, it cost over €13 million. Bonett was responsible for it.

Not only did it cost almost double what was planned, but when it was completed, it was riddled with serious problems.  Legal action was commenced against Bonnici Brothers, but this was dropped.  Instead, an out-of-court settlement was reached that was favourable to the contractor.

Bonnici Brothers, were paid millions of euro through illegal direct orders without authorisation.  Now, the state will pay them another €765,000 to remedy their own shoddy work.

Labour tried to keep that out-of-court settlement secret.  It was only revealed after a lengthy legal battle and a Freedom of Information request by The Shift – and even then, the annexes to that settlement were kept hidden.  Sport Malta CEO didn’t even bother to reply to questions.

You’d think that if Bonett messed up so badly over a relatively small project, he’d be kicked out and never be trusted with any other project. He certainly should never have been trusted to administer public funds again.

Instead, Bonett was made minister overseeing transport and public works. He botched a €7 million project, and as a reward, he’s been given a €700 million road-building project to manage.

You’d think that’s absolutely crazy – but it isn’t. The people who benefitted massively from Bonett’s “gross mismanagement” and “financial irregularities” were Bonnici Brothers, whose director is Robert Abela’s business partner.

Bonnici Brothers are primarily road builders, although they’ve also won a massive €600 million contract for a waste-to-energy plant that the court has annulled. They’ve also been handed a €37 million contract for a temporary power plant that was delivered late and never used.

No wonder Bonett has been rewarded.