Office of the Prime Minister defies law over Vision 2050 Cube spending

More than four months after The Shift submitted Freedom of Information (FOI) requests seeking details on expenditure for the controversial Vision 2050 cube project installed at Valletta’s entrance, the Office of the Prime Minister remains in breach of Malta’s transparency laws.

The government continues to withhold information about the millions spent on the project, which has been criticised as a publicity stunt for Labour’s electoral campaign. Work to dismantle the cube started immediately after the elections held on 30 May.

FOI requests filed in February, seeking details of the project’s total cost, procurement procedures, direct orders, and contractor payments, remain unanswered, despite the FOI Act obliging public authorities to respond within 20 working days.

Formal complaints filed by The Shift over the OPM’s failure to comply with its legal obligations have also failed to yield a substantive response, raising further concerns about possible abuse, accountability, and transparency in the use of public funds.

The continued secrecy comes as the government quietly dismantled the giant cube structure at Valletta’s City Gate only days after the general elections, fuelling criticism that the project was never intended as a long-term vision initiative but rather as a temporary communications platform linked to Labour’s electoral campaign.

At the centre of the controversy was former OPM Permanent Secretary Ronald Mizzi, who coordinated procurement and implementation of the project while simultaneously facing criminal proceedings for alleged fraud and misappropriation of public funds in the hospitals concession case.

Following the May elections, Mizzi was appointed Permanent Secretary within the Infrastructure Ministry.

His former assistant at the OPM, Anthony David Gatt, a former ONE TV reporter who was brought into the Prime Minister’s Office to assist with communications and coordination related to the Vision 2050 exercise, has meanwhile been transferred back to Malta Enterprise.

Previous investigations by The Shift revealed that the Vision 2050 cube was classified as a “work of art”, allowing it to bypass the normal planning permit process despite being erected at one of the country’s most prominent heritage locations.

The Shift also revealed that Labour Party organising secretary William Lewis was directly involved in coordinating the project through consultancy arrangements with the OPM. Lewis is responsible for organising Labour’s major mass events and electoral activities.

Industry sources identified several companies involved in the cube project, including TEC, IStage, Greatt Ltd, RVC Ltd and Mad About Video. Many of these companies have long-standing commercial relationships with government entities and have regularly featured in large scale state events and Labour Party activities.

The Shift is informed that several contractors engaged on the Vision 2050 project were also directly involved in productions, events and logistical operations during the electoral campaign.

While the OPM continues to continues to refuse to publish procurement records, contract values or direct-order documentation, the public remains unable to establish the full extent of taxpayer expenditure or the financial beneficiaries of the project that was largely a propaganda exercise for the Labour Party in government.

Prime Minister Robert Abela’s administration has repeatedly refused to disclose the total cost of the initiative, with officials claiming that expenditure figures were still being compiled months after the launch.