The mega €274 million contract awarded by the government to James Caterers and a subsidiary of the db Group to run a still-to-be-built extension at St Vincent de Paul Residence was never contested in front of any appeals board.
Contrary to official government statements, including those issued by the Department of Information and Parliamentary Secretary Anthony Agius Decelis, the tender and “negotiated procedure” used to morph a €60 million tender for meals and a new kitchen into €274 million for the management of a 500-bed extension at the facility was never legally challenged.
Research conducted by Times of Malta shows that the Vassallo Group, owners of the other consortium interested in the bid – CCE Joint Venture – indeed filed an appeal in front of the Public Contracts Review Board to contest the technical evaluation of the original tender at the first stage of proceedings.
In September 2016, the PCRB decided against the Vassallo Group and ordered the resumption of the evaluation process of the tender as stipulated by the call. At that stage, the Group lost the €58,000 fee they had to pay to contest the partial decision.
A month later, the same group took the issue to the…