Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1528582
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 OCTOBER 2024 NEWS Vacancy For more info visit micas.art/get-involved or contact people@micas.art micas.art Closing at noon on Friday 8 th November 2024 Office Attendant (Visitor Services) We're on the lookout for a motivated Full-Time Front Desk and Ticketing Officer. If you want to be part of our Visitor Services team, we want to hear from you. Jobsplus Permit Number 957/2024 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The Labour Party referred MaltaToday to its official donation reports filed with the Electoral Commission, insisting it does not accept donations which carry a condition. The Nationalist Party simply ignored this newspaper's questions and did not answer. MaltaToday asked both parties whether they received any donations from Camill- eri, known as il-Franċiż, or companies he controls such as Garnet Investments, over the past 12 months. If a donation was forthcoming; when it was made, what the amount was and whether a receipt was issued. The newspaper also asked whether Camilleri placed any conditions on his donation and whether he made the donation voluntarily or whether it was so- licited by the party or any of its officials. PN in deafening silence The PN did not reply to any of the ques- tions. Eyewitnesses have told MaltaTo- day that Camilleri was present at party headquarters for meetings with Bernard Grech before the whole Villa Rosa con- troversy erupted in public. MaltaToday is not privy to what was discussed and Grech has refused to confirm the meet- ings took place. In parliament last week, Planning Min- ister Clint Camilleri acknowledged he met the developer and during the meet- ing Anton Camilleri told him that he had just come from a meeting with Grech, who purportedly told him [the developer] that he agreed with the project and was looking forward to inaugurate it himself when he becomes prime minister. For the past couple of years, the PN has failed to file its accounts and donation re- ports with the Electoral Commission de- spite being obliged to do so at law. Ironically, several PN MPs, including Karol Aquilina, Graham Bencini, Albert Buttigieg, Stanley Zammit and Rebekah Borg joined the protest against the Villa Rosa project organised by environmen- tal organisations on Saturday. Swieqi Nationalist Mayor Noel Muscat also ad- dressed the crowd. PL hides behind donation report Meanwhile, in a dry reply to MaltaTo- day, a PL spokesperson said: "As stip- ulated by law, the Labour Party sends, every year, a statement of the donations it receives to the Electoral Commission; a legal requirement which the National- ist Party has blatantly breached for the past two years. The reports of the Labour Party donations are in the public domain. The donations received by the PL result from this document. The Labour Party does not accept any donations which car- ry a condition." The latest declaration sourced from the Electoral Commission's website shows that the PL received €1.3 million in dona- tions from 19,691 donors in 2023. None of the individual donations ex- ceeded €7,000 and so the party has no obligation to identify the source. Just over €900,000 were donations ranging between €500 and €7,000, made by 379 donors. According to the law the party is obliged to keep records of who made these donations but has no obligation to divulge the source. The rest of the donations, amounting to a total of €388,000, came from 19,312 donors, who donated amounts less than €500. The party has no obligation to keep records of individual donors in this case. The PL spokesperson did not say wheth- er Camilleri made any donations of what- ever size over the past 12 months. So far, Prime Minister Robert Abela has refused to say whether he personally met Anton Camilleri with Castille only con- firming that 'government' did meet with the developer as was customary in pro- jects of this size. The developer himself on Friday penned an opinion in which he confirmed that he had talks with the 'authorities' and the need to change the Villa Rosa local plan arose during meetings with the Planning Authority. Anton Camilleri denied accusations made by environmental activists that the PA's objectives for the review were made by his own architect. Cassola requests documentation Meanwhile, independent election can- didate Arnold Cassola has filed a freedom of information request with the Planning Authority, seeking documentation linked to the Villa Rosa local plan changes. Cassola is asking for copies of the PA's executive council meeting minutes and any written communications from min- ister Clint Camilleri to be made available. Anton Camilleri already has a permit issued in 2018 to build a mixed-use de- velopment on the Villa Rosa site, which he owns, in St George's Bay. However, he wants to submit fresh plans that would see the construction of two towers thus going higher instead of having buildings sprawling all over the site. Technically, Camilleri does not need to have the local plan changed to move ahead with the new application since the hotels height policy from 2014 allows him to build higher. However, with the local plan for the site setting certain parame- ters the potential conflict in interpreta- tion between the 2014 policy and the local plan could be used as a ground for appeal by activists opposed to the project. In several instances the court has or- dered the withdrawal of building permits, arguing that the local plan supersedes any policy that may be incongruent with it. Activists argue that the review of the Villa Rosa local plan is only intended to give Camilleri legal certainty that any de- velopment permit will not be able to be challenged on conflicting policy grounds. Party leaders will not say if they met Anton Camilleri A number of PN MPs, including Graham Bencini and Karol Aquilina (left and right above), attended the protest on Saturday