NEWS | Wednesday, 10 December 2008

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Indicted companies submitted ‘declaration’ to retain MCAST contract

The two companies facing criminal charges over false declarations on their tender for the MCAST contract to outsource teaching of their Information and Communications Technology course, will still be receiving a slice of the €1.8 million contract despite being charged by police in court.
They are facing charges of false declarations in their bid, concerning the access of their tuition centres to people with a disability.
A finance ministry official has told MaltaToday that the two companies, Key Services/CC Training and Future Focus, were allowed to be contracted by MCAST after submitting declarations to the Contracts Department that they were now fully accessible to people with a disability.
The official said the ministry “could not declare them guilty before being tried in court”, and that the companies had now submitted their own declaration to the Department of Contracts saying they did not submit any false declarations.
Pressed for his side of the story, contracts director-general Francis Attard said he had “nothing to add or subtract from what the ministry has said about the matter”.
The ministry official said there had been no decision not to award the two companies part of the MCAST contract after police filed their charges on 17 November.
Police have accused the two companies of submitting false declarations on physical accessibility, but they are still being paid by MCAST for providing ICT courses to the college students.
According to the conditions of the MCAST tender document, the tuition centres had to provide premises that are accessible for persons with disabilities.
If found guilty, the indicted directors are liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to a fine.

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