€33.5m landscaping contract changes hands

Malta’s first ever public private partnership, established in 1992 to upgrade and maintain open public spaces, is changing hands as the government has awarded a €33.5 million contract to a new consortium GEB Landscaping.

The consortium that will take over the contract and the 200 government employees with it, is led by V&C Contractors owned by Vincent Borg, known as Censu n-Nizz (a canvasser of former PN deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami who then crossed to Labour in 2013).

The winning bidder also includes Ozo Group, in which the Zammit Tabonas of Fortina Group hold a significant shareholding, as well as Derek Garden Centre and Italian company Sicilville SRL.

The decision was made by the Department of Contracts following a tender in which the new consortium submitted the lowest bid, even lower than the €41 million estimated as the tender’s value by the government.

The five-year contract until 2027 comes with additional benefits – the basic €6.7 million in government funds a year comes with additional direct orders costing taxpayers additional millions a year.

The previous contractor, Environmental Landscapes Consortium (ELC) led by Polidano Group, has been involved in this venture for 20 years with no competition. Both Nationalist and Labour administrations kept renewing the contract without a call.

This led to a damning report by the NAO stating that the practice went against public procurement regulations.