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5 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 16 SEPTEMBER 2020 NEWS Gozo landowners seek registration of 17th century fief MATTHEW VELLA THE landowners of an immense swathe of land in Nadur have formally requested that the gov- ernment register their 17th cen- tury fiefdom title under the Land Registration Act. The Gozo land is worth mil- lions and includes a quarry near Qala that was once proposed for the construction of a cruise-liner terminal. The lands total 18,500sq.m in Nadur and are known as ic-Cens. The lands form part of the Abbazia di Sant' Antonio delli Navarra, a foundation created in 1675 by the Rabat noblewom- an Cosmana Navarra for her male heirs. When the title fell into abeyance, the meagre rents charged to the farmers who lived on the land were administered by a church vicar. Since 1992, the Stagno Navar- ra family – which claims direct lineage to the Navarra fief – has been attempting to wrest con- trol of the lands away from the Church. The Maltese Archdiocese was in court right up until 2013 contesting the right of the late Richard Stagno Navarra to be recognised as the 'rector' of the Abbazia. Stagno Navarra had since 1992 been attempting to lease the land to Berrachimp Ltd, a com- pany owned by then magistrate Dennis Montebello. But after 2013, under Arch- bishop Charles Scicluna, the Maltese Church recognised a new rector proposed by the Stagno Navarras, the lawyer Pat- rick Valentino, the partner of Magistrate Rachel Montebello, daughter of retired magistrate Dennis Montebello. The latter is a business partner with the Stag- no Navarras and Gozo lawyer Carmelo Galea in the company Carravan, the vehicle used by the Abbazia to transfer its lands to a commercial company. For just €200,000, in February 2017 the Maltese Church bro- kered a deal in which the Abba- zia would no longer be bound by the foundation deed, which suggested that any emphyteuti- cal lease of the land would not require the Archdiocese's rub- ber-stamp. The €200,000 – paid by the Carravan business partners – are supposed to be used by the Church to fulfil pious acts in the name of Cosmana Navarra, as requested in the Abbazia foun- dational deed. And since 2017, the Abba- zia has been transferring lands inside the Qala development zone to Carravan – specifically a 23,000sq.m piece of land at Ghar Boffa, for the annual concession of €43,000. Another 28,000sq.m tract at Tas-Sajtun was also transferred on an annual conces- sion of €35,000. Concurrently, the Planning Authority has green-lit three applications at Ghar Boffa for a row of housing that will in- clude 85 apartments over three storeys, and 78 garages, pre- sented by business associates of Gozitan property entrepreneur Joe Portelli, known for the Mer- cury House high-rise. Aerial shot of Nadur (photo: James BIanchi/MaltaToday) CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 "I believe that our institutions are working in a satisfactory way. I am satisfied with the way our institutions are working and the changes we've made," he said. Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat gave the initial go-ahead for a public inquiry into the Caruana Galizia murder in Decem- ber 2019, with the inquiry board given a nine-month deadline to reach a conclusion. In light of the closure of law courts dur- ing the COVID-19 pandemic, the inquiry board wrote to the Prime Minister in the hope of receiving a deadline extension. In response, Robert Abela granted a one-time extension until mid-December of this year. The decision by Abela to impose this ex- tension was met with harsh criticism. The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation ar- gued that the terms of reference illustrate clearly that it was within the board's remit alone to decide when the work is complete, with the deadline automatically extended if the board feels that more time is needed. Council of Europe rapporteur Pieter Omtzigt had his own concerns over the manner, saying that the inquiry's independ- ence "must include the exclusive compe- tence to order its own business." Independ- ent candidate Arnold Cassola also wrote to President George Vella, asking him to step in and ensure that the inquiry is given all the time needed to complete its work. The Caruana Galizia family had filed a formal objection to the Prime Minister's decision with the board, with the Inquiry head confirming that the Prime Minister will be notified of the submission. 'I believe that our institutions are working in a satisfactory way' 49 new cases of COVID-19 49 new coronavirus cases were recorded yesterday. Ac- tive cases now stand 507, af- ter 1,666 swab tests were car- ried out in the last 24 hours. The total number of swab tests now stands at 218,692. 41 COVID-19 patients al- so recovered, with a total of 1,931 total recoveries reg- istered since the pandem- ic began. 2,454 cases have been registered in total. 16 deaths due to coronavi- rus were registered to date. The health ministry said that from yesterday's cases 14 were family members of previously known cases, one was a work colleague, one was a direct contact with another positive case, two were imported and three came from social gatherings with positive cases. Prime Minister Robert Abela held a Cabinet meeting in Gozo on Tuesday