Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/361046
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 10 AUGUST 2014 News 7 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 After being served with official letters of execu- tive title to pay €200,000 in arrears for breach of contract, Cities Entertain- ment initiated civil court action to challenge the executive title action. Wracked with mounting debts and losses, Cities Entertainment was pay- ing a handsome €93,000 on their 65- year emphyteusis to run the café on Old Treasury Street, and an adjoining waxworks museum in Old Theatre Street. But when it turned out that in July 2013 – only months after Labour had been elected in power – lawyers from both Cities Entertainment and the Commissioner for Lands ceased all court action, the agreement to 'buy back' Café Premier so that all govern- ment debts and dues could be settled started to ring alarm bells. It was nothing short of a timely bail- out. Attempts to sell off their lease on the market had been unsuccessful. In the end, it was Mario Camilleri who secured the deal to settle the compa- ny's outstanding debts, and vacate the premises, which are situated beneath the National Library. The police investigation makes clear that it was Camilleri who brought forward the offer to vacate the ca- tering outlet so that the government could re-use the space for the Library above. Originally, the parliamentary secre- tariat for lands had told MaltaToday that it had "found out" that Cities Entertainment "was negotiating with third parties to sell the business" – even though the original deed states clearly that the company cannot transfer the lease without govern- ment permission. Now a consultant in the Office of the Prime Minister, architect John Sciberras – formerly director-general of the Government Property Divi- sion – evaluated Camilleri's offer. No evidence was found to suggest that he had been paid anything to carry out the evaluation of the €4.2 million pay- ment. The amount paid to Cities Entertain- ment was established by the director of the Joint Office, architect Duncan Mifsud. His report on the property, which used a formula established by the previous government, remains under wraps after the Government Property Division refused a freedom of information request submitted by this newspaper. Investigating police officers con- cluded in their report that no evidence suggested any criminal acts had taken place in securing the deal. Only Neville Curmi insisted with the police that his former business partner had claimed €210,000 as a commission for brokering the deal – but Camilleri denied that the extra payment was a commission, he had demanded repayment for cash he forked out to keep the Café Premier afloat. Premier saga In February this year, the Lands Department paid out €4.2 million to Cities Entertainment Ltd in what Michael Farrugia, then parliamentary secretary for lands, dubbed an "ami- cable expropriation" intended to clear for the National Library the underly- ing cafeteria and any deleterious ef- fect it might have on the Library and its invaluable manuscripts. The government had told Mal- taToday that the acquisition of the emphyteutical grant was intended to "eliminate once and for all any hazard that a catering establishment could pose to the treasures housed in the Biblioteca" and to build an elevator to improve access. Farrugia said that any form of ex- propriation would have incurred compensation. "The final agreed val- ue is also much lower than the value originally requested by Cities Enter- tainment." What captured the public's at- tention was the fact that the gov- ernment was paying Cities En- tertainment money to pay back the company's dues to the State: €307,346 to settle outstanding ar- rears with the government prop- erty division and €504,000 in capital gains tax owed on the land; €192,748 to the Inland Revenue Department to settle income tax and social secu- rity payments, €227,058 to the VAT Department on outstanding dues and legal procedures against the company, and €130,963 in energy bills for ARMS; and €3,265 to credi- tors Golden Harvest. Additionally, Mario Camilleri's company M&A Investments was paid €210,000, a debt which his former business partner Neville Curmi described to police investiga- tors as "a commission" for securing the deal. Finally, another €2,560,800 was to be paid to Banif Bank, in four instalments, in settlement of the outstanding bank loans that Cities Entertainment held with the bank. mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Café Premier director claims former partner took €210,000 'commission' Having refreshments outside the Premier in the shade of the historic building. Grotta disco 'sanctioning' application turned down JAMES DEBONO AN attempt to sanction some of the illegalities of the Grotta Disco in Xlen- di has failed as the Planning Authority insisted that the application did not address all the illegalities found on the site of the popular disco. Moreover, while the developers had resorted to the fast-track develop- ment notification (DNO) procedure to sanction "internal alterations", MEPA insisted that the law regulating DNOs does not apply to extensions to non-residential buildings located in "scheduled" areas. The law stipulates that such extensions require a full planning application. DNO permits are usually issued for minor developments in residential ar- eas or for temporary structures. The Grotta disco, which is subject to two pending enforcement orders dat- ing back to 1999 and 1997, is located in a scheduled as an Area of High Landscape Value. Moreover, according to MEPA the drawings as submitted do not seek to sanction all the illegalities of the com- plex in question. An enforcement order issued in 1997 refers to "additions and altera- tions" made without a permit. The en- forcement order issued in 1999 refers to various illegal structures including stores, bars, a pizzeria, terraces, steps and rooms found between the en- trance and the protected valley along the entire length of the complex. Part of the present complex is cov- ered by a permit issued in 1986. In 1994 MEPA approved an application to replace a deteriorated wooden ga- zebo on top of the existing dance floor with a bigger gazebo, over a larger dance floor and create another covered dance floor to cater for win- ter and summer seasons. No further permits were issued by the Planning Authority. According to the existing regula- tions, MEPA cannot sanction any ille- gal development in scheduled areas.