Maltese Government Never Paid Money To Build Hospitals, Says Joseph Muscat

Speaking during an interview on ‘X Ray’ on ONE TV with Amanda Spiteri Grech, former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that the Maltese government never paid money to build new hospitals, but instead paid for the running of these hospitals.

Making reference to the Stewards case, Muscat stated that at the International Criminal Court (ICC) found that not only was money was not stolen from the deal, but that €5 million remain to be given by the Maltese government.

The former PM said that he is now in court because according to critics, these sums of money were stolen and given to Muscat himself.

The tribunal, he said, was clear that the government never paid money to build the hospitals. The money, he said, was given to run the hospital.

When Stewards acquired the money to build the hospitals, something he said did not take place for a number of reasons, they would have been paid more.

After the ruling, Muscat had stated that ‘‘not only were €400 million not stolen, but the government still owes them €5 million.’

‘The decision by the International Arbitration Tribunal, composed by truly world recognised international experts, states that not only were €400 million not stolen in the hospital concession, but the Government still has to pay the service provider almost another €5 million’, said Muscat after the ruling.

This comes after it was revealed that the government of Malta won an international case against Steward Healthcare.

It was confirmed that the government prevailed in arbitration proceedings held by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), where Steward had demanded around €148 million from Malta.

The tribunal rejected Steward’s claim, saying the government did not unlawfully terminate the hospitals deal and doesn’t owe Steward any damages.

According to the ICC’s decision, both sides benefited from the deal, with Malta getting around €889 million worth of services and Steward getting around €884 million in payments, meaning a shortfall of just €4.7 million that the government must pay Steward.

#MaltaDaily