Ex-chief hasn’t read auditor’s Enemalta report

The former chairman of Enemalta, Alex Tranter, yesterday said he had not yet read the Auditor General’s report that identified serious shortcomings in the way the corporation’s fuel procurement committee was run under his watch. The report was presented in Parliament a week ago. The Auditor General found that the purchase of fuel between 2008 and 2010 bypassed “the most fundamental principles of good practice” and that not all oil purchase contracts went to those with the most favourable bids. These conclusions have prompted Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi to ask the police to investigate whether Enemalta’s fuel procurement process involved criminal conduct. Last Wednesday this newspaper sought the reaction of Mr Tranter, who at the time was Enemalta chairman as well as a member of the fuel procurement committee. He asked for the questions to be sent in writing. Asked for his comments again yesterday, he told Times of Malta he had not yet read the report. Instead, he referred to a Times story on the audit that carried a photo of him with former Minister Austin Gatt, who was responsible for the corporation between 2003 and February 2010. “The reference to my chairmanship in that story...