Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1041944
10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 21 OCTOBER 2018 NEWS MATTHEW VELLA THE owners of the land upon which the St Philip's Hospital was erected, are demanding the rescission of the lease and with it, the return of the land. The Farrugia estate had leased the land on a perpetual emphy- teusis to the Vassallo Builders Group in 1992, and a year later the concession transferred to the Golden Shepherd Group, the administrators of the hospi- tal that was built on the land in Sta Venera. The owners say that Golden Shepherd failed to pay their rent since 2010, and now owe the landowners over €95,000. The owners have also asked the courts to recoup the land from the hospital group. The hospital has been closed down since 2010, and in 2016 a court of law demanded that Golden Shepherd pay up the sum of €11.5 million in loans to HSBC Malta. The company is owned by the former PN candidate Frank Portelli – who in 2017 threw his hat in for the PN leadership – through the companies Golden Shepherd Group and Medicaid Limited. Court documents show Por- telli was ordered to pay a €10.6 million loan representing €7.1 million in capital and €3.5 mil- lion in interest; and €959,000 which includes €216,000 inter- est on an overdraft facility. Since shutting down, Portelli had been seeking a government 'bailout' so that the health de- partment rents out beds at the formerly private hospital to solve the state's own problems of overcrowding at Mater Dei Hospital. When the deal fell through in 2012, Portelli toyed with the prospect of suing the govern- ment for damages a year after the previous administration pulled out of an eight-year lease agreement at the last minute. The deal would have paved the way for the conversion of this private 100-bed hospital, which had closed down after running into financial difficulties, to be converted into a rehabilitation facility. Portelli was accused by the previous administration of "ne- gotiating in bad faith", accord- ing to news reports. COURT NOTICE The Registrar, Civil Courts and Tribunals notifies that the First Hall of the Civil Court ordered the sale by Judicial Auction of the following property to be held in the corridors of the Courts of Justice, Republic Street, Valletta. Date Time Judicial Sale No Property 23rd October 2018 11.30am 34/17 - JGL BARCLAYS BANK PLC (C 26167) vs VELLA JOHN MARY ET (ID 615558M). Tenement numbered one (1), in Triq il- Karmnu, corner with Triq Ħal Far, Birżebbuġa' free and unencumbered, valued € 410,000. Apartment internally numbered five (5), in a block named 'Morning Mist Court' in Triq Massimiljanu Kolbe, Il- Qawra, San Pawl il- Baħar, free and unencumbered, valued €235,000. Apartment internally numbered six (6), in a block named 'Morning Mist Court' in Triq Massimiljanu Kolbe, Il- Qawra, San Pawl il- Baħar, free and unencumbered, valued €220,000. Apartment internally numbered seven (7), in a block named 'Morning Mist Court' in Triq Massimiljanu Kolbe, Il- Qawra, San Pawl il- Baħ ar, free and unencumbered, valued €265,000. Apartment internally numbered eight (8), in a block named 'Morning Mist Court' in Triq Massimiljanu Kolbe, Il- Qawra, San Pawl il- Baħar, free and unencumbered, valued €245,000. Tenement numbered 26A in Triq Zonqor, Marsascala, free and unencumbered, valued €215,000. Tenement numbered 26B in Triq Zonqor, Marsascala, free and unencumbered, valued €130,000. 25th October 2018 10.30am 38/16 - EM Farrugia Michael (ID394570M) vs Vassallo Frank (ID 620958M). Property named Lycidas in Triq Dun Mikiel Scerri, Attard including the airspace built on two plots known as 'tal- Irmiedi'. The property is free and unencumbered with all its rights and appurtenances valued at €855,000. Further details can be obtained from the website: http://www.justiceservices.gov.mt/courtservices/JudicialSales/search.aspx The bidders taking part in the auction must present their identity card. Rudolph Marmara' For the Registrar of Civil Courts and Tribunals PRELIMINARY MARKET CONSULTATION Identity Malta Agency would like to notify the general public that it is receiving offers for the leasing of office premises. The said premises must be either readily available to move in or in the final stages of comple�on. Submissions for the Preliminary Market Consultation will be received through the ePPS system on www.etenders.gov.mt and the deadline for submissions is Wednesday 7 th November 2018 at 09:30AM. The document containing all necessary informa�on can be downloaded for free from www.etenders.gov.mt and any clarifications or addenda to the said document will be uploaded and made available on the same website within the stipulated period. Adv. No. IMA-2018/PMC004: Preliminary Market Consultation for Rental of Office Premises for the Identity Malta Agency Identity Malta Agency, Onda Building Triq Aldo Moro Marsa MRS 9065, Malta Late submissions will not be considered. Court turns down FOI request on parties' utility bills MATTHEW AGIUS AN appeals court has refused a Freedom of Information (FOI) request filed by MaltaToday, be- cause the information requested was exempt from disclosure at law. MaltaToday editor Matthew Vella had filed the FOI request to utilities provider Automated Revenue Management Services (ARMS) in April 2013, request- ing a statement of outstanding balances for the Labour and Na- tionalist parties and their com- panies – due to reports of unpaid bills and generous conditions of repayments. The company had refused, say- ing the documents were held by ARMS "as a commercial part- nership in which the govern- ment has a controlling interest" and that they related to its com- mercial activities. Vella's request to the Informa- tion and Data Protection Com- missioner (IDPC), citing the public interest as grounds for the request, was also refused. Vella filed an appeal to the IDP ap- peals tribunal, arguing that polit- ical parties influenced the selec- tion of ministers responsible for utilities and could allow political parties lenient repayment con- ditions on their utility bills. The tribunal found for Vella, over- turning the IDPC's decision. But in appeal filed by ARMS in the law courts, the decision was overturned by Judge Anthony Ellul, who ruled that the infor- mation requested fell under the exemption of the FOIA. "The Commissioner's conclusion was legally correct. The appellant was right to refuse Vella's re- quest," held the court. The judge said that while noth- ing impeded public authorities from publishing exempt docu- ments, the law did not impose an obligation on them to do so. Landowners want return of St Philip's Hospital land Shuttered private hospital called upon to pay €95,000 in rent and return Sta Venera land