The chairman of the Malta Maritime Authority, Marc Bonello, has filed a libel suit against Labour MP Jose Herrera over his comments alleging Bonello had a conflict of interest when his architectural firm, TBA Periti, tendered for several MMA contracts for the construction of the deepwater quay project.
Bonello yesterday told MaltaToday he had given Herrera 48 hours to substantiate his claims, withdraw his allegations or else face libel action yet again.
“Herrera irresponsibly slandered me with false accusations as he has done in the past and this was disproved recently by the Permanent Commission Against Corruption.”
Herrera’s comments, made in the aftermath of an investigation conducted by the Permanent Commission against Corruption (PCC) on his allegations of conflict of interest for the MMA chairman, were made during a political meeting that took place in St Julian’s last week. The PCC found no substantiation of any corrupt dealings with respect to the MMA, but Herrera commented that the heart of the matter had indeed been a conflict of interest for Bonello – rather than corruption.
The MP had already made the same allegations back in June 2004, accusing Bonello of a conflict of interest, and prompting a libel suit by both Bonello and his partner in TBA Periti, Alex Torpiano, still ongoing.
He repeated the allegations again in parliament in 2007, prompting Competitiveness and Communications Minister Censu Galea to send the allegations to the PCC to investigate. Last week, the PCC rejected allegations of corruption levelled at the MMA. In his reaction to the PCC’s investigation, Herrera reiterated his claims of conflict of interest.
Herrera had claimed that Bonello, as vice-chairman of the MMA in 1999 and later chairman, had a conflict of interest because his architectural firm TBA Periti had tendered for contracts concerning the deepwater quay project, which had been issued by the MMA’s capital projects department (CPD).
Herrera, in the libel proceedings first instituted by Bonello, has stated that in his capacity as MP, “I felt I had to criticise Dr Marc Bonello, who occupied a public role in the MMA… that he had a conflict of interest par excellence given that he was occupying a high role in an authority on one hand, and applying for a tender through a firm he was a partner of. I think this constituted fair comment.”
The deepwater quay project was first advertised in 1998 and later awarded to a UK firm, Coode & Associates/Scott Wilson. TBA Periti had also tendered for this project, unsuccessfully.
The MMA later issued a tender in 1999 for the appointment of a Maltese consultant to assist the contractor.
A former MMA board secretary, Dr Carmel Chircop, had told the court during the libel proceedings against Herrera, that the MMA’s capital projects department had not been authorised or empowered at law to issue the 1999 tender. As MMA vice-chairman at the time, Bonello presided over the capital projects department.
Chircop said officials from the CPD had informed him they had received a tender packet which included an offer from TBA Periti, Bonello’s firm. Chircop said he had told the CPD they were not authorised to issue any tenders, and ordered them to stop opening the offers. “I told them, ‘didn’t they know that TBA’s partner was the vice-chairman’?”
Chircop ordered the cancellation of the tender, informed the Director of Contracts, who then reported the matter to the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Competitiveness. Chircop claimed in court that two days later, he received a letter for the termination of his employment.
Contacted yesterday, MMA chairman Marc Bonello said Chircop had been sacked over truancy by the then chairman Edward Woods. “He had his own reasons to say what he said in Court. He has a chip on his shoulder.”
Bonello said that TBA Periti had informed him, two days before the closure of the 1999 tender, that they would be tendering for the consultant to the quay project. “I was aware it would represent a conflict of interest for me so I absented myself from the CPD. I told my own partner that I would not advantage him, but that I could not stop him from tendering.”
Bonello said the CPD was authorised to issue the offer, because it was not a tender but an “expression of interest” to shortlist interested firms for the eventual tender.
He said that when in 2001 another related tender was issued, and again TBA was interested in tendering, he as chairman informed his vice-chairman to “let it be known that I was to absent myself again on any discussion concerning this tender.”
Later in September 2001, TBA withdrew its expression of interest. Architect Lawrence Mintoff was later appointed to assist Scott Wilson.
“Herrera should have checked with me before going to parliament to slander me,” Bonello said. Asked whether he felt that his position in the MMA would still constitute a conflict of interest whenever his firm TBA tenders for a project at the authority, Bonello said: “A conflict of interest would be a case where TBA would be advantaged if there was a tender or expression of interest. Given the PCC’s own conclusion that corruption was not evidence anywhere, then there should be no doubt of what I am saying.”
The Commission against Corruption investigated allegations made by Herrera who said Bonello was involved in the process while having a commercial interest with one of the bidders. The commission said it resulted that Bonello had in fact informed in writing the adjudicating committee about such conflict of interest and excused himself from participating further in the process.

mvella@mediatoday.com.mt