Two years after the release of this report, some are wondering about the legal follow-up given to it. Starting with Xavier Dubois who questioned the Minister of Mobility Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) in the mobility committee this week. Not for his involvement in the case but because he did not forward it to the prosecution.
“I don’t understand why he doesn’t take responsibilitydeplores the Brabant MP. We still have a report which points to fairly serious irregularities in public procurement laws.s.”
In 2022, Catherine Fonck (Les Engagés) had already challenged the Minister of Mobility. “I don’t have the final report yet“, the environmentalist replied cautiously. Two years later, the minister has not given any injunction to his administration.
“Today, he says it’s not clear who is responsible and therefore it’s complicated to file a lawsuit. But precisely, it is up to justice to do this work and define who is responsible”believes Xavier Dubois.
And for Brabançon, the minister must, as head of his administration, take legal action: “According to article 29 of the code of criminal investigation, any official who witnesses an offense or a crime must denounce it. And he, as a minister, a fortiori, must do it because he has all the elements in hand.”
“Responsibilities not clearly established”
Georges Gilkinet recognized on Wednesday that the report “contains a series of damning findings, both with regard to the application of public procurement rules and with regard to the financial control of the project“. But according to the ecologist, “responsibilities are not clearly defined in the report. Any legal proceedings must, however, be able to be based on concrete and tangible elements, particularly in relation to those responsible at the time, which do not appear clearly when reading the report..” The file is considered too light.
Words that make Xavier Dubois jump. “It is absolutely regrettable that he does not intervene and, in relation to the population, it is not acceptable. We are still talking here about €500 million, from a project author who has a fee rate of 14% on an amount of €500 million. This is what is at stake. We are going to use public funds to pay someone who a priori, according to the Court of Auditors, was not designated correctly. And given the amounts involved, this is absolutely unacceptable.”
