New appeal filed as government reselects Bonnici for €600m incinerator

A new appeal has been filed against the government after it again chose a consortium in which Bonnici Group holds a significant stake to be awarded a €600 million tender to build an incinerator at Magħtab, despite the court ordering the evaluation to start from scratch.

Kandevia Inova AG (formerly Hitachi) and Terna SA lodged the appeal just days after the government, through Wasteserv, issued its second consecutive recommendation to award the tender to the Paprec Energies-Bonnici Consortium.

Before the Public Contracts Review Board (PCRB), the government is being accused of a series of legal infringements aimed at obstructing the tender’s second evaluation in favour of Bonnici.

Through its lawyers, Matthew Paris and Adrian Delia, Kandevia accused Wasteserv of tainting the second evaluation process by making public statements that undermined fairness.

They also claimed Wasteserv did not adhere to last summer’s court decision, which mandated restarting the evaluation process from scratch.

Kandevia asserted that despite having warned about the compromised nature of the new evaluation process through a judicial protest, the government and Wasteserv continued the process to favour the Bonnici consortium.

They have requested that the PCRB cancel the government’s recommendation once again, order a fresh reevaluation of the tender, or cancel the tender altogether. Kandevia warned that if these actions were not taken, it may refer the matter back to the Court of Appeal.

An ongoing saga

The incinerator project has been ongoing for years. Meanwhile, Malta is approaching a situation where it may miss its EU targets, which could lead to financial and legal repercussions.

In 2023, after a lengthy call for tenders and an evaluation process, Wasteserv announced that it had decided to award the tender to Paprec Energies International, in which the Bonnici Group holds a 40% stake.

The Bonnici Group lacks experience in the waste-to-energy sector but has received millions in tenders.

Kandevia (then Hitachi) initially filed an appeal against the tender decision, claiming the process was marred by irregularities.

Last June, the court upheld Kandevia’s claims, confirming that Stephanie Scicluna Laiviera, a member of the evaluation committee, along with two others on the appeals committee (Public Contracts Review Board), Chairman Kenneth Swain and lawyer Vince Micallef, had conflicts of interest.

The court annulled the entire process and ordered a complete reevaluation by a different board.

Two days after the court’s decision, Wasteserv CEO Richard Bilocca publicly referred to Kandevia as “the losing consortium,” despite the court’s order to revoke the previous decision favouring Bonnici Group’s consortium.

Since Robert Abela became prime minister in 2020, Bonnici Brothers has been awarded hundreds of millions of euro in government tenders and direct orders, many of which have been associated with breaches of public procurement rules. The latest significant contract was for Enemalta to construct a €37 million temporary diesel power station.

Prime Minister Robert Abela was involved in private business with Gilbert Bonnici, the Managing Director of the Bonnici Group.