Grounds for criminal investigation into Vitals hospitals deal – Adrian Delia
There are grounds for a criminal investigation into the Vitals Global Healthcare (VGH) hospitals deal, former opposition leader Adrian Delia believes. Addressing a press conference in the wake of a 460-page Auditor General report about the controversial contracts, Delia slammed the government for having voted in parliament to give current concessionaires Steward Healthcare more money - on the same day that the report was released. Steward Healthcare took over the running of the St Luke’s, Karin Grech and Gozo Hospitals after VGH crashed out of the contract in 2017. The company will receive €69 million in taxpayer funding in 2022 - a 40 per cent increase over the previous year. 'A corrupt contract' Delia, who is spearheading a legal bid to have the hospitals deal rescinded, criticised the approach taken by certain government officials called to testify in the case he opened in 2018 . The PN MP said it is clear a time-wasting strategy by the government which ordinary people are paying for. “If the government was serious, it would not continue rewarding a corrupt contract,” Delia said. Delia said the government continued to pay Steward millions despite its failure to hit its...