Jason’s gravel

“We are more transparent than transparency itself”, Jason Micallef bragged when confronted with the barren reality at the Ta’ Qali picnic area by Mark Laurence Zammit.

Yet it’s taken a Freedom of Information request by Momentum for the nation to discover that the 5,000 tonnes of gravel that Micallef spread over that formerly green picnic area cost us over €311,000. It had to be that FOI for us to find out that no permits were issued for covering the entire area in Greek gravel.

No environmental impact assessment was carried out. Work was assigned to Bonnici Brothers via direct order – the same company whose director, Gilbert Bonnici, was the Prime Minister’s business partner on a private development in Iklin.

Jason Micallef is so transparent that there’s still far more about his picnic area project that we still don’t know – including how much of our money went into Bonnici Brothers’ pockets for the work done at Ta’ Qali.

30,000 square metres of public land was covered in gravel, yet Jason Micallef claims that this massive project was just “ongoing maintenance”. Dumping 5,000 tonnes of non-native rock mixture onto 30,000 square metres of a public picnic area cannot possibly be construed as “ongoing maintenance”.

If the gravel alone cost over a quarter of a million euro, then the whole project – including remuneration for Bonnici Brothers – must have cost far more. Add to that the nightly procession of water bowsers desperately trying to stir some grass into life and you start to get a clue of the scale of the expense Jason Micallef inflicted on the taxpayer.

Bonnici Brothers were awarded the direct order on the pretext that they were “already carrying out works within the same area”. That’s Jason Micallef’s excuse for not issuing a public tender for the work.

The Environment and Resources Authority never issued any permits for the work at the picnic area. No environmental impact assessments were carried out. Jason Micallef just decided that he’d just dump those 5,000 tonnes of gravel. No wonder he was so prickly when Mark Laurence Zammit asked him basic questions. No wonder he got so irate and flustered.  

“Stop acting”, Micallef rudely told Mark Laurence Zammit, “we are more transparent than transparency itself because honestly we have nothing to hide”.  For somebody with nothing to hide he’s made it pretty difficult for citizens to find out how much of their money he squandered.

Nothing of what Micallef promised has materialised. “I said grass will grow again in Autumn”, Micallef insisted. “Where we’re standing now will be full of grass in December”, Micallef promised.

Autumn is here, and so is December – but we’re still waiting for Micallef’s grass to grow. “We’ll come again (in December), I invite you and we’ll have a celebration”, Micallef challenged Mark Laurence Zammit. “The more it rains the quicker the grass will grow”, was Jason Micallef’s solemn pledge.

The rains have come – they’ve flooded the picnic area at ta’ Qali, but still we wait for Jason’s grass. If Jason Micallef was so agitated on 6 November when the Times paid that visit to the picnic area, he must be hysterical by now.

Maybe Mark Laurence Zammit should take up Micallef’s challenge and meet again at that picnic area in Ta’ Qali. Jason Micallef should be given the opportunity to be more transparent than transparency itself and should answer some basic questions – whose decision was it to dump 5,000 tonnes of gravel at the picnic area?

Who decided the gravel should be purchased from Greece, of all places? Who determined that no environmental impact assessment or ERA permits were required? Why were Bonnici Brothers selected to do the work? How much were they paid for the work? Who authorised those payments?

Maybe in a fit of transparency Jason Micallef will publish all communciation – via e-mail, WhatsApp, or other means – that he’s had with Bonnici Brothers. He could publish the minutes of all the discussions leading up to the decision to blanket the whole picnic area with gravel. He certainly must publish all the invoices and receipts for the material and work on the project.

Jason Micallef must be desperate to demonstrate his transparency since he has nothing to hide. He must be itching to share with us the meticulously documented records of all the transactions and decisions. He must be yearning for that opportunity to apologise to Arnold Cassola after being so insolent towards him.

Surely Jason Micallef needn’t get so upset if everything he’s done is above board. He doesn’t need to get so jittery if he’s so convinced the grass will grow faster and greener with his gravel.

The problem isn’t just Jason’s bluster and belligerence, his arrogance and coarseness. It’s his decision to proceed with the work at Ta’ Qali picnic park without any permit. It’s his decision to squander over €310,000 of taxpayers’ money on Greek gravel.

It’s his role in handing over an undisclosed sum of taxpayer money to Bonnici Brothers in another direct order. Jason Micallef should be investigated. He should be held accountable for his actions – especially if they are unlawful.

Jason Micallef needs to understand that we pay his salary. He owes the entire country an explanation and an apology. And he should learn some manners.