Delays for Bormla home closed two years ago

A government promise made in 2023 to 120 Bormla elderly residents forced to leave their home due to ’emergency works’ will not be kept as a project to rebuild the locality’s home for the elderly is the latest project to be hit by massive delays.

In the summer of 2023, residents at the government’s elderly home were given a few weeks to pack their bags and leave to start residing in another residence as Minister Jo Etienne Abela said the home had become unsafe due to structural damages.

The elderly and their relatives resisted the move, criticising the government for the rush and insensitivity while insisting that the home could have easily been maintained without them moving out.

However, the ministry insisted on its stand as it wanted to demolish and rebuild the property. The minister promised a quick project so the elderly could return to their newly built home as soon as possible.

Almost two years later, nothing has been done, as the government is still at the initial stage of the project, evaluating a tender issued 12 months ago.

When MP Ian Vassallo asked the health minister in parliament about the progress of this project, the minister admitted that no structural works had started as a tender has yet to be adjudicated.

The Bormla project is the latest in a series of projects affected by massive delays in the health sector.

A hospital hub in the south of Malta – better known as the Paola Hub – is still shut despite having to start serving clients three years ago.

The minister did not reply when asked when the new home for the elderly in Bormla will become operational.

The government received four offers for the project, which were estimated to cost some €101 million, including its 20-year operation.

Clifton Borg, a former customer care officer at the Labour Party headquarters and later Chief Officer at Transport Malta, is fronting the lowest offer – €79 million made by Carewise Joint Venture. The lead partner in this consortium is road contractor Schembri Barbros Ltd.

Vassallo Group’s Care Malta, which had run the same home for decades, submitted the second-lowest bid at €86 million. This is followed by €98 million bid from Carerise Ltd, co-owned by the Labour deputy mayor of Naxxar, Mario Brincat.

Golden Ventures, co-owned by the Malta Developers Association Secretary General, Paul Attard, submitted the most expensive bid at €101 million. In this venture, Attard is joined by Bonnici Brothers, the former clients of Robert Abela’s legal office and his business partners.

Price is not the only factor determining the winning bid.