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The purchase of the Malta embassy in Brussels is fast turning into a comedy of errors. The price, the site and the state of the building are all matters of controversy. What started out as a straight-forward purchase of a government prestigious office block to house our embassy is fast turning into a can of worms. The plot thickens daily. No sooner are we informed that the deal makes great business sense than The Times reveals that our country spent more money on acquiring office space than any of the other new EU members. Only hours later, it is revealed by the gloating Labour media that the purchase price has landed the vendors with a prized profit of four million Malta liri over a mere twelve month period. This certainly does not enhance the acclaimed negotiating skills of Malta’s foremost businessman, Mr Albert Mizzi, who headed the technical team.
It remains incredible that nobody in authority, including the Cabinet, who apparently approved the deal, counted the cost. Someone somewhere should have taken stock of all the problems both on a perception and political level. The purchase of the property was bound to carry political risks. Government retorts to criticism by affirming as its principle line of defence that the property purchased will increase in value over a period of time. While this may be the case, is government in the business of buying and selling property? Is Government a property speculator? Surely not! This project is a lesson in how not to use public money. In any order of priorities the funds should have been channelled to revamp our tourist product and our education system.
The timing of the purchase is equally diabolical. At a time when the Prime Minister attempts to make the whole country realize that there is no such thing as a free lunch, emphasizing daily with passion the difficulties in the country’s finances we have a non-elected member of the Cabinet, Richard Cachia Caruana, driving this project and a Cabinet giving its approval to this extravagance. It smacks of megalomania, failing to appreciate that we are a minute state the size of a small European town. While cuts are quite rightly and courageously being made for which Government deserves our full support, the ‘money no problem’ culture still linkers on. This is distasteful.
The deal is exactly what hurts the fastest growing sector of society: the floating voter. This sector of society owes no allegiance to any of the three political parties, it is their perception of things which influences their electoral choices and they perceive something wrong in this embassy saga. It smacks of spending money like water and as being as costly as an election. Indeed, it is slip-ups like this which will seal this Governments faith.
The Prime Minister should never have set his seal on this deal. Giving his authority to this affair smacks either of poor judgment or a simple lack of appreciation of the negative perception it has created in peoples’ minds. He should reverse this decision immediately in keeping with his credentials to date as a good custodian of the public purse. There is no consent to this purchase save from deep blue quarters and cautiously and reservedly so. The argument that it will appreciate in value is wafer thin. It certainly does not counter the argument that the price in itself is costly and most certainly so, when compared to the price paid by other new accession members. Our country does not need to keep up appearances by pretending to afford more than it can.
The two main protagonists in this affair, the Head of the Malta delegation in Brussels and the head of the technical committee, have, to date, remained silent. Their silence is deafening. They must speak up. A ‘no comment’ reply and ignoring our questions smack of arrogance. They simply cannot act like monarchs who are expected to remain silent even in the face of criticism. In their respective roles they too are custodians of the public purse and as such accountable.
Lawrence Gonzi is yet again being derailed by circumstances. The very people he unreservedly supports are the ones letting him down most. It is unfair that they are putting his Government in such a bad light. The political agenda is dominated by this embassy purchase and there is little talk on the big and courageous decisions that Government is taking including prioritising Malta’s financial problems and its cuts to ministry expenditure.
The embassy issue is undermining Lawrence Gonzi. He must get the political initiative back into his hands. Reversing this decision would go a long way to re-establishing his credentials.
When MaltaToday broke this story, just twenty-four hours after the purchase contract was signed on the twenty-sixth June, we did so because we strongly believed that it is in the public interest that the tax payer knows how his taxes are being spent especially when he is being asked to make sacrifices. We never believed however that further damaging evidence would surface. It is now crystal clear that the whole saga is a messy affair and politically very damaging to Government. The decision must be reversed with immediate effect.
Such a decision would strengthen and not weaken Government.
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