INEM. Gulf Med Director Blames Delay in Public Tender
The CEO of the Maltese company Gulf Med Aviation Services, which won the international public tender to provide emergency air transport services for the National Emergency Medical Service (INEM) and failed to meet the deadlines by which it should have put all its helicopters into service, says that the responsibility for this delay does not lie with the company, but rather with delays in launching the public tender by the INEM, which is overseen by the Ministry of Health.
In an opinion piece published this Saturday in Observador , businessman Simon Camilleri says he was “surprised” by the news and comments that reported the company’s delays — for which INEM intends to penalize Gulf Med under the terms of the signed public contract — and explains at length the “particularities of air operations with medical emergency helicopters”, which require the allocation of helicopters and the training of pilots (in addition to the fact that, in the specific case of the INEM contract, all pilots must speak Portuguese).
"I'm even more concerned by the claims that the company lacked helicopters and pilots to carry out this mission, as if this were proof of the company's incompetence or as if this were incompatible with having won the public tender," he writes. "It's easy to understand that no company in the world has helicopters idle, waiting for a contract that requires their use. That simply doesn't happen."
For Camilleri, the problem that is at the root of the delay — the four helicopters should have been in service 24 hours a day since July 1, but it was necessary to resort to a direct adjustment for a transitional period that involved only two helicopters operating 12 hours a day, later reinforced by a third helicopter — is the delay in the public tender process itself.
The official points out that the tender should have been launched by September 30, 2024, but was only published at the end of November. The contract was only signed on May 21, when the proposal review should have concluded in January 2025. The Court of Auditors' approval only arrived on June 30. All of this, says Camilleri, made "starting the activity on July 1 complex."
"If the tender had followed a timely schedule, with the contract signed in January 2025, Gulf Med Aviation Services would have had six months to allocate the helicopters and certify the pilots. This would have been more than enough time to meet all regulatory requirements," the official writes.
"The company was perfectly prepared to fulfill all its commitments made in the public tender proposal. What failed was not the winning company's preparation, but rather the timing of the entire public procurement process," he adds. "The way the international public tender was developed sought to compress into a few weeks procedures that take months to execute in compliance with strict aviation safety standards."
The businessman also notes that "Gulf Med Aviation Services is complying with the progressive implementation plan presented to INEM, always with safety as an absolute priority."
observador
