Letters | Wednesday, 17 December 2008

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Ministry spokesman refutes accusations

Reference is made to the article published in the last issue of MaltaToday Midweek in which you alleged that the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport misled your newspaper with regard to the MCAST ICT tender issue.
I absolutely refute these accusations. Your article was nothing but a weak attack on the Ministry’s credibility.
The letter from the police was sent to the Permanent Secretary. In my attempt to meet your deadline I asked the Minister’s secretaries if the Minister had been officially notified of the names of the companies in question. The reply was in the negative as no letter had been delivered to the Minister’s office.
The names of the companies that the police alleged had made incorrect declarations in a public document were disclosed in the media and court proceedings started against them.
One wonders how MaltaToday, which followed this story and milked it to its teeth, never found the space to publish the press release issued by one of the said companies, denying all accusations levelled at it and inviting the Opposition spokesperson on Education, who triggered the police investigation, to visit its premises and see for himself and confirm that it was accessible by entering it on a wheelchair.

Mario Schiavone
Communications Coordinator
Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport

Editorial note
Mr Schiavone is incorrect on several counts:
On 24 November, this newspaper contacted him to inquire who the two companies charged by the police were, after the education ministry issued a press release on the matter without mentioning these companies’ names. Mr Schiavone said the police had not indicated these companies’ identities to the permanent secretary.
On 25 November, Mr Schiavone sent MaltaToday the following official reply in an email:
“Last Friday, the Police informed us that the investigation found that two bidders allegedly submitted incorrect declarations with regards to accessibility to persons with disability and charges will be pressed against them in Court. The police have not officially informed us who the two bidders are.”
Then on 9 December, MaltaToday got hold of the letter sent by Deputy Commissioner of the Police Joseph Cachia, to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education and Culture, The Director of Contracts and Labour MP Evarist Bartolo, who demanded the investigation, which read:
“…it did result that two bidders had made false declarations in the tender documents in breach of article 188 of the Criminal Code (Cap 9). Hence, charges have been filed in Court against Marcel Cutajar and Stephen Casaletto of CC Training Ltd and Rosanne Galea and John David Galea of Future Focus Ltd…”
As for the press release Mr Schiavone refers to, that issued by Future Focus, a relevant portion of its statement denying all allegations was published in MaltaToday Midweek, 3 December, on the front page.
Mr Schiavone should however concern himself with attending to the press and the public’s demands as a ministerial spokesman, rather than the interests of a private company and what sections of its press release gets published.

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