The GSD Government of Peter Caruana apparently awarded contracts to Nigel Pardo or his companies for projects which had not yet been signed by the Government with the proviso that if the contract did not materialise, Nigel Pardo would still get paid a percentage commission of the cost of the contract. This means that if the contract for the underpass across the runway is not proceeded with because instead of the contracted price of £30 million it now costs £55 million more and there is no money to complete the project, Pardo gets paid anyway. It also means that if the new Power Station does not get done because of the inability of the new Government to borrow more money, given the real level of the national net debt, Nigel Pardo still gets paid.

This newspaper has nothing personal against Nigel Pardo, but is questioning, in the public interest, the contracts awarded by Peter Caruana and the GSD Government, to one man to the exception of others, and the terms of that contract. Although the Government has not made public any of the details of the contracts, the word in the street is that shortly after the 2007 election, and after Pardo had already been involved in other Government projects as a consultant, Peter Caruana saw fit to award another contract on construction work worth some £450 million. Other than fees paid to him or his company, a commission on the total sum of the contract is paid and if the contract price increases, like it has by 50% in the contract for the construction of the Air Terminal, then Pardo gets a percentage for the total sum, the contracted sum and the extra cost. This means that he will get 50% more than envisaged for the terminal project, as things are today since the final cost of the Air Terminal is still unknown. The contract given to Pardo is being described by many in the construction industry as a licence to print money and is worth millions of pounds.

This newspaper is unaware of the legal obligation that the new GSLP/LIB Government has to honour these contracts but we sincerely believe that it is in the public interest that all of these contracts should also be the subject of a full and comprehensive forensic audit that should look into the terms of the contract too, given that most have over-run their original cost by millions and this allows Pardo to increase his takings substantially. The Government should check and compare similar contracts, if they exist, awarded in the UK. Surely there must be a way to extirpate the Government from these obligations which incur a serious burden on the public purse, with the general public not having been fully informed of the contracts granted on their behalf? Fabian Picardo must take the bull by the horns and inform the public fully of what is going on where the Pardo contracts are concerned.

UNITE OFFICERS ASKED TO RESIGN

A report in the newspaper VOX [online] says that a number of union shop stewards held a meeting at Transport House on Tuesday morning and handed Charlie Sisarello a list of some 700 signatures from union members demanding his resignation and the resignation of Branch Officer, Victor Ochello.

On inquiring from some shop stewards what was happening, The New People has been able to find out that these signatures have been with the shop stewards for a while but that they decided to postpone their delivery until after the general election so that the move should not interfere with the electoral process. It appears that the number of signatures exceeds the 700 reported in VOX and that there was a very heated meeting on Tuesday morning with harsh words being said by both the stewards and the union officers.

The steward contacted by The New People declined to comment further saying this was an internal problem of the union. It appears that the matter must now be referred to the UK Head Office and that a high ranking official of UNITE might have to visit Gibraltar to deal with the widespread discontent that there is with the service provided to members by the local officers.

VOX says that some people that have resigned from the union because they have fallen out with the union officers would have also signed the petition if they had still been members, indicating that many would return and become members of the union again if Charlie Sisarello and Victor Ochello were to resign.

There is no precedent for the union in UK to remove any officer because the members are dissatisfied with the service provided, they usually support the officers but privately ask them to change their tune and to be more receptive to the views of the membership.