Hyped-up projects turn into white elephants
Over these past few weeks, some statesponsored projects have suddenly turned into white elephants. The much-vaunted public-private partnership between the government and Vitals Global Healthcare (VGH) regarding three key public hospitals in Malta and Gozo has suddenly morphed into something reportedly sold for €1 to an American healthcare company that, at least, exists and has a reputation. We were told yesterday that VGH had some sort of liquidity problems which led to suppliers experiencing tension regarding payment. No doubt, the forthcoming parliamentary debate on the issue will shed light on the matter. But right from the start, Vitals’ unclear management and ownership structure – and lack of experience in healthcare – fuelled scepticism about the whole deal.
We will also have to wait and see if the Vitals-Steward deal changes the whole business plan of the three hospitals and indeed of healthcare in Malta. All three,
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especially the Gozo hospital, need heavy investment in infrastructure and equipment, as well as investment in personnel, especially if the idea of attracting patients from abroad is going to be invested in.
Also linked to all this is the Barts medical school, which does not seem to have had an auspicious beginning, considering that the first few students have had to make do with classes at the Sixth Form complex. From one school to another. The other hyped-up project that has turned sour is the American University of Malta, which entertained dreams of teaching some 4,000 students from the Middle East and which ended up with less than 20 students in its first full year, with staff being sacked and with huge controversies surrounding the ODZ area at Żonqor which the government was so willing to hand over.
In this case, there does not seem to be any ‘Steward’ on the horizon, even though the government said just a few weeks ago that if AUM defaults, there are other educational enterprises which may be ready to take over. The government, even now, is prone to making huge announcements which then fizzle out. Some never materialise and some morph. Others, quite frankly, flop.
In a way, these failures should prompt the government into being less bombastic in its announcements and to prepare the ground well, weeding out the misfits from the promising. All the same, something like this happens everywhere, even in business. Not all good ideas come to fruition and some flop.
What really matters, however, is that these new ventures do not turn out to be pie in the sky proposed by someone who stands to materially benefit from the venture only then to steal away when the going gets tough.
It is in the interest of good governance to prepare well for such ventures so as to avoid the loss of face these two venturesturned-white elephants have been.