Labour’s Mosta Mayor Chris Grech has forked out €50,000 to file an appeal against a decision by INDIS Malta, the government agency responsible for managing industrial estates, for excluding him from a €32 million tender issued a few months ago.

Grech, an architect by profession, has instituted legal proceedings before the Public Contracts Review Board (PCRB) with Ian Stafrace as his lawyer – a former associate of Prime Minister Robert Abela’s private practice.

He complained that his exclusion from the tender was manifestly wrong and that a clarification he sought from Chairman Jean Pierre Attard remained unanswered.

Attard is the Executive Chairman of Indis and a former canvasser of Minister Silvio Schembri, who controls the agency through his appointees, including Deputy CEO Francois Piccione.

While sources have described the exclusion of Grech as the result of internal political rivalry, Grech is insisting the PCRB declare his exclusion illegal and take the necessary measures for his submission to be re-assessed and inserted in the list of winning bidders.

Replying, Indis Malta is insisting that Grech is wrong as he did not manage to reach the administrative requirements of the tender.

Earlier this year, INDIS Malta issued a tender for a framework agreement for the provision of project management services for its projects at industrial estates, which also include the construction of multi-million-euro factories.

According to the tender, INDIS will spend €13 million a year on projects, up to €52 million over four years.

Various architectural firms submitted offers, and a list of recommended bidders was produced. These will now be selected for massive works according to established prices.

Indis did include the Mosta Mayor for jobs under €500,000, but he was excluded from the big deals, usually accompanied by large commissions and payments.

Since Prime Minister Robert Abela assigned Minister Silvio Schembri the responsibility of managing public land, the agency has been hit by one scandal after another due to Schembri’s close association with contractors.

While turning INDIS into a jobs agency for his constituency, the minister put his direct canvassers as Executive Chairman and Deputy CEO to micro-manage the organisation.

Besides issuing direct orders and tenders that have raised concern, INDIS has effectively stopped enforcement efforts.