Hospital owner says deal is valid

The owner of St Philip’s, Frank Portelli, is insisting the Government should plough ahead and sign a €12 million deal for the lease of his Santa Venera hospital in spite of opposition from Labour and two Government backbenchers. “Though I don’t have any objection to the scrutiny of the PAC, we negotiated and agreed with the Government and not with the PAC. Therefore, we insist that we have a valid contract,” Dr Portelli told The Times yesterday. Surprised at recent criticism of the deal, the outspoken surgeon had strong words for those who he said are trying to undermine the agreement. “Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and Franco Debono are transferring their hate towards Richard Cachia Caruana onto me. They know I’m Richard’s friend and so they want to punish me,” he said. Dr Portelli said he is even more surprised with Labour’s reaction “Until a few weeks ago, Labour was giving me the impression that if they are in government, they will want to work with St Philip’s through a Public Private Partnership. What happened to this and why are they changing their tune?” Dr Portelli said. Defending the deal, Dr Portelli said negotiations between a team of professionals representing his...