Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1044434
2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 28 OCTOBER 2018 NEWS THE former editor of the Sun- day Times will sue Occupy Jus- tice activist Manuel Delia for libel, after the latter suggested whether he could have ben- efitted from illicit payments from either Keith Schembri or former Times director Adrian Hillman. Steve Mallia was on the re- ceiving end of social media abuse after penning an opin- ion last Sunday that took to task activists who were up- ending the notion of freedom of expression as a way of ad- vancing allegations for parti- san or political reasons. Delia responded with a blog attacking Mallia for his edi- torship of the Sunday Times at the time when Allied News- papers director Adrian Hill- man had set up an offshore company to receive payments from other offshore compa- nies owned by Keith Schem- bri, then as director of paper merchants Kasco and the sup- plier of newsprint to Allied. "Contrary to his malicious allegations, in my position as editor I never possessed any knowledge of the alleged actions attributed to the ex- managing director of Allied Newspapers… and particular- ly since I had absolutely no in- volvement in the commercial operations of the company, I was not in a position to know – let alone gain any financial benefit myself from them, which is perhaps the most re- pulsive fiction put forward by Manuel Delia." Mallia said Hillman "never, ever" dictated an editorial decision during his tenure. "I took those decisions and as- sume sole responsibility for them. Along with his other allegations, this is a grotesque invention by Manuel Delia that will not remain unchal- lenged." Mallia posted a brief reply on his Facebook wall after Delia's blog, saying his unsub- stantiated allegations were lies and that journalists and bloggers were responsible for the content they publish. "During the course of the week, which allowed for a pe- riod of reflection, he did not retract a word, let alone apol- ogise. ''On the contrary, he – and other uninformed comment- ers – increased the dose. "Neither he, nor anyone else for that matter, has the right to unjustly tarnish another's reputation and I will leave no stone unturned to safeguard mine. Nor will I cower to bul- lying tactics aimed at discour- aging me from expressing an opinion." Mallia, a veteran journalist, wrote in the Sunday Times on 21 October of his concern at the direction a certain type Mallia sues Delia for libel over suggestion he took 'bribes' Former Times of Malta editor to sue Manuel Delia for libel over malicious and unfounded allegations of journalism had taken in Malta particularly by people who have been in the po- litical field – a reference to Manuel Delia, a former aide to Nationalist minister Aus- tin Gatt who has now thrust himself at the forefront of the activists' group keeping the legacy of assassinated jour- nalist Daphne Caruana Gali- zia alive. "One of the main points I wished to convey is that certain standards are non- negotiable: opinion should never be passed off as fact and freedom of expression is not an absolute right – it comes with responsibilities. 'No one,' I wrote, should ever be free to fabricate or distort facts," Mallia said. "Whatever the merits of my arguments – and people have always been welcome to op- pose them – what I put for- ward was my point of view. "It is deeply saddening and profoundly ironic that barely 24 hours after this piece ap- peared, I was subjected to the most hideous character as- sassination by Manuel Delia – who made a series of totally unfounded allegations in my regard in a blog post, shared on social media, titled 'Jour- nalism most foul." DAVID HUDSON THE DB group has defended the €60 million valuation of the land transfer for its City Cen- tre high-rise at St George's Bay, suggesting that the valuation of similar deals around the area should follow the same bench- mark established by Deloitte. In a reference to such projects as the White Rocks, where pro- posals for luxury development in the Pembroke area have still not been approved, the DB group CEO Arthur Gauci said he wanted the Deloitte formula used for his company to be ap- plied to "present and, crucially, the future... Comparisons with the Corinthia Group's proposal for the site literally adjacent to ours and that for White Rocks should be particularly enlight- ening. Transparency, justice and the rule of law require no less." Gauci has insisted the price the company paid for the land was the highest price ever paid per square metre for a compara- ble project in the last 20 years, in a reaction to claims that DB had been given the land by the Maltese government at a price below market levels. "For the first time in Maltese history, the market value of public land has been set by an auditing firm of global repu- tation, namely Deloitte... The formula established by Deloitte confirmed that DB group would buy the land for a total of €60 million." The Planning Authority last month green-lit the proposed 38-storey tower and 17-storey hotel at the former site of the In- stitute of Tourism Studies (ITS) in St George's Bay. While EU Competition Commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, has con- firmed that a land transfer such as the one granted by Projects Malta could be in conform- ity with EU rules, she suggested that unlawful state aid could happen in cases where the pub- lic authority sold the land to the buyer at below market price. Gauci today said that crit- ics should understand that his group, owned by hotelier Silvio Debono, was obliged under the land transfer contract, to create 1,500 jobs under pain of penalty. "In total, the City Centre pro- ject will generate around €490 million of direct revenue to government over a 10-year pe- riod," Gauci said, adding that the company was investing €300 million in the project, "making it the largest private investment by an individual in Maltese his- tory and will also include an underground car park for 1,700 vehicles." The transfer of land by Pro- jects Malta, the Maltese govern- ment's PPP arm, was carried out through a land valuation by De- loitte. Under oath in court back in May 2018, a Deloitte partner declared that they met with various promoters of similar projects in St Julian's "to under- stand exactly the market in the area". Following these meetings, and keeping the requirements of the request for proposals in view, he reconfirmed under oath that €60 million was in fact the mar- ket value of the City Centre site. The Deloitte partner also tes- tified that, to support its work, the firm had engaged the ar- chitectural services of various architects, amongst them Prof. Alex Torpiano. "The public call for submis- sions for the project was in full conformity throughout with all applicable local and EU laws," Arthur Gauci said in his state- ment. White Rocks value must reflect DB's record-breaking sum, CEO says Architects' rendition of the City Centre project Manuel Delia and (inset) Steve Mallia