Conflict of interest? Transport Malta head Mark Portelli teams up with Midi to clinch Manoel Island yacht yard. But will his new business links open him up to confict claims in upcoming marina privatisations?
Matthew Vella The government-appointed head of the maritime regulator, Mark Portelli, has opened himself up to a possible conflict in his role as chairman of Transport Malta, because he is a shareholder of the company awarded the 30-year concession for the Manoel Island yacht yard (MIYY) two weeks ago, and a business partner of entrepreneurs with interests in upcoming marina privatisations.
Portelli is director of Manoel Island Yacht Yard Ltd, a company formed on 1 December 2009, just two months before the Privatisation Unit accepted a €12.4 million offer for MIYY.
The finance ministry ignored various questions by MaltaToday on Portelli’s involvement in the winning consortium, claiming that yacht repair is not regulated by the Malta Maritime Authority (now falling under Transport Malta). “Any involvement of Portelli’s in MIYY is completely irrelevant to the privatisation process since the MMA was at no point involved in the privatisation process,” a spokesperson said.
But Portelli’s involvement in MIYY opens him up to questions on his impartiality as Transport Malta chief, and the interest of his co-shareholders.
His other directors and shareholders include Midi plc chairman Albert Mizzi, Victor Bezzina of Bezzina Ship Repair, Raphael Bianchi, Michael Hili, and Christopher Mizzi.
Midi plc, a shareholder in Manoel Island Yacht Yard Ltd, was already earmarked by the maritime authority as the developer of a new marina at Ta’ Xbiex that it wants to establish further inside the inlet by the Gzira Gardens.
Situating it by the marina at Manoel Island, already owned by Midi plc, the new marina would add a further 99 berthing spaces.
The maritime authority wants to develop the new marina near the breakwater that will be constructed by Midi itself, as laid down in the deed for its Tigné and Manoel Island project concessions. The tendering document itself states that once the breakwater is completed, Midi will be responsible for the infrastructural cost to develop the Ta’ Xbiex marina – a statement which did not go unnoticed by industry observers.
“It’s even more unsettling to note that the Transport Malta website is directly linked to the home page of Midi plc in a section on the Marsamxett port: why is a private firm linked to a public authority’s website, especially given the business relationship between Portelli and Albert Mizzi?” one industry source pointed out.
Apart from Portelli’s position as a public sector chairman, questions have been raised over the valuation of MIYY by auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers, who are also consultants to Midi plc on the Tigné Point and Manoel Island projects.
In their enterprise valuation prior to privatisation, PricewaterhouseCoopers had predicted favourable market conditions for MIYY due to “the privatisation of the government owned marinas” which would generate more yachting activity.
However it stated that due to the uncertainty of timing of the Midi land reclamation project – which will determine when privatisation of the Ta’ Xbiex marina starts – “we have not adjusted our valuation to reflect the potential upside from these developments.”
This led PricewaterhouseCoopers to tag the sale of MIYY at a value of €10-€13 million – ostensibly the price that currently reflects the state of the Marsamxett port but not that upon the privatisation of the new marina.
Portelli Until going to print, Mark Portelli could not be reached on either his home or mobile phone number, while an SMS message was never returned.
Mark Portelli was appointed in 2002 as chairman of the Malta Freeport, and was recently appointed chairman of the Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation, which is responsible for the development of new marinas among other projects; and now Transport Malta, the super-authority for civil aviation, land and maritime transport.
The finance ministry did not answer MaltaToday’s question on whether Portelli’s private interest in Manoel Island created an unfavourable
perception of the privatisation process. The public sector’s code of ethics defines conflicts of interest as “a situation in which a public officer has a private or personal interest sufficient to influence or appear the objective exercise of his or her official duties” and urges public officers to avoid financial interests “that could directly or indirectly compromise the performance of their duties.” mvella@mediatoday.com.mt
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