Albert Fenech, the PN’s own Health Spokesperson, joined VGH out of conviction not politics. Today, the same party that once endorsed the project is twisting facts the ICC has already settled.
The recent decision of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) on the Steward case has once again reignited debate about the hospitals’ concession. Yet amid all the noise from the bancrupt Opposition, one fact remains consistently ignored: when the project was first launched, even senior members of the Nationalist Party placed their confidence in Vitals Global Healthcare.
Professor Mark Brincat
Lest we forget on the board of VGH sat Professor Mark Brincat, who had headed the Gynaecology Department at Mater Dei for years, and Professor Albert Fenech, cardiac specialist, at the time the Opposition’s own Health Spokesperson.
Professor Fenech’s belief in the project was so strong that he resigned his parliamentary seat in 2016 to join Vitals full-time. He publicly declared that his decision was entirely his own, and that the Government had no role in it. What motivated him was not politics, but conviction in a healthcare project he believed would transform the Gozo hospital and bring world-class cardiac services closer to Gozitans.
In his own words, Professor Fenech said that Partners HealthCare International, an offshoot of Harvard University, had carried out two due-diligence reports on VGH and “found them to be okay”. He added that he met representatives of Partners HealthCare in the United States, and they were “very excited about this project.”
He also urged the Medical Association of Malta to engage with VGH, insisting that genuine dialogue, and not political theatre, was the way forward.
These statements are not Gafa’s, but recorded words of a respected cardiologist and senior PN figure who recognised that the project’s vision was to modernise Malta’s health system through strategic foreign investment.
Back to the ICC Tribunal in London, it did not find any fraud. This puts an end to the Opposition’s ongoing distortion of facts. No money was lost or stolen, as repeatedly claimed by the Opposition. On the contrary, value for services was ensured.
Labour Government believed and continues to believe in public-private partnerships that deliver real value to citizens. The ICC itself confirmed that payments made to Steward were for healthcare service provision, not capital investment or hospital redevelopment.
Today, those attempting to rewrite history conveniently omit that the initiative was once embraced by figures across the political divide, including the PN’s own leading health voice.
Albert Fenech
The real issue is not whether the vision was right, because it was. The issue is how the project was undermined and politicised for partisan gain. Delia’s legal action crippled the State’s ability to demand compensation. By rushing to file his own case, purely for political showmanship, Delia pre-empted the government’s own preparations for legal action.
The Opposition continues to build its politics on deceit, denial, and destruction. While Labour governs for the people, they campaign for power. And that is the fundamental difference between a Government of responsibility and an Opposition of opportunism.
