Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/440087
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 31 DECEMBER 2014 4 15 Years Jumbo Lido AN outstanding rent bill of Lm109,965, owed by the owners of Sliema's Jumbo Lido to the Lands Department, was written off by the government despite winning a court case against VAB Company Ltd, the owners of the now-demol- ished Jumbo Lido, to pay the rent. The company directors, Frank Fenech and his son Peter, a PN activist and then chairman of the Mediterranean Conference Centre, had their outstanding rent written off after letting the Jumbo Lido monolith on the Tigné seafront in Sliema fall into disrepair. Days before its demolition turned into a media spectacle, the Jumbo Lido's Lm109,965 rent bill was written off by the government. The operators had last paid rent on this site in 1997. Peter Fenech was also Louis Galea's spokesperson during a Xarabank debate on the eve of the PN's leadership contest, pushing forward Galea's bid for the part y helm. Describing talks with the gov- ernment as "private negotiations", Peter Fenech refused to state who had been present during these negotiations. His father Frank told MaltaTo- day the deal was "none of [our] business". For years a derelict eyesore on the Tigné coast, the demolition of the Jumbo Lido cost the government Lm4,900 - and all outstanding rents owed from the lease of this area, written off. Peter Fenech had sued Malta- Today for libel and was awarded €18,000 in damages. The sen- tence was upheld by the Appeals court. The case is presently in the Constitutional court. 4 December, 2005 MaltaToday probe shoots down golf course IN September 2005 MaltaToday re- vealed that developing a golf course at Xaghra l-Hamra as proposed by the Gonzi administration was in breach of EU law as the government had lied above the potable water table protected by European Union law. MaltaToday revealed that the golf course footprint did not tell the truth about the Mizieb mean sea level aquifer, which produces 600,000 cubic metres of potable water annually – equivalent to the amount consumed by the popula- tion of Fgura in a year. A close look at the golf course plan and the Mizieb mean sea level map showed that the northern part of the golf course site, which com- prised 64 out of the 114 hectares al- located for development, coincided with one of six drinking water safeguard areas protected by the EU's Water Framework Directive. The MaltaToday probe belied MEPA's claim that the govern- ment's proposal was acceptable because it had no impact on the aquifer protection zone. The government in May 2007 finally aborted the proposal. Since than golf courses disappeared from the country's planning agenda. September 2005 2005