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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 20 MAY 2015 5 News 'AUM critics should be flexible' – Muscat CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 Speaking during the TV programme Re- porter hosted by Saviour Balzan Prime Minister Joseph Muscat sounded the possibility of split- ting the campus by hinting that the university "can be split into two areas, but definitely not into ten". In a sign that the government could be backtracking in the face of widespread opposition to the proposed ODZ development, Muscat called for a compromise solution. "If both the government and its critics are flexible then there can be certain compromises, but I will not let this investment escape the country," he said. But in a clear indication that the contentious Zonqor site remains on the agenda, the Labour-led Marsaskala council approved a motion supporting the develop- ment of the proposed campus in Marsaskala. Deputy Mayor Desiree Attard was the only Labour councillor to vote against the proposed ODZ development. The meeting was held a day after Muscat visited Marsaksala to galvanise support for the project. Curiously on Monday, before Muscat hinted at the possibil- ity of splitting the campus in two, Sadeen group spokesperson Kevin Deguara insisted that "the sin- gle most important condition for Sadeen is that all buildings and amenities would be situated on one campus". The American Uni- versity developers are the Sadeen Group. These contrasting declarations may well be meant to counter the impression that the government is simply accommodating the devel- opers and to give the impression of flexibility on the government's part without abandoning plans to develop Zonqor. MaltaToday is informed that it could be easier for the government to find a smaller 25,000 square me- tres plot (the size of four football grounds) in possibly less sensitive locations than Zonqor, although it is not clear whether ODZ land is being excluded or not. But this would mean that devel- opment the size of eight football grounds would still be required in Zonqor, an area which according to the local plan should form part of a natural park. The co-ordination unit of the office of MEPA's Chief Executive Officer, Johann Buttigieg, was re- sponsible for the preliminary as- sessment which deemed the ODZ site in Iz-Zonqor as "acceptable" for the development of the pro- posed American University cam- pus. The preliminary assessment study was limited to the only two 90,000 square metre sites pro- posed by the Government Prop- erty Division, namely the fields around St Leonard fort and iz- Zonqor. The site had to be in the south of the Island, with at least half of the required site to be in government ownership. The site cannot be "in a protected area and it has to be serviced well by existing infra- structure, including roads, drain- age and water and electricity". The St Leonard fort option was excluded because the impact on the fort was deemed to be consid- erable and because the site is not well served with the necessary in- frastructure. PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD Defence says 'private' works fell within CMU's remit MATTHEW VELLA THE defence counsel for Anthony Debono, 59, yesterday tore into the evidence presented by the pros- ecution, saying the allegedly 'pri- vate' works that Debono commis- sioned using public funds under his authority as head of the Gozo ministry's construction and main- tenance unit (CMU), were in fact public works. In the third sitting of the compi- lation of evidence against Debono, husband of former Gozo minister Giovanna Debono, defence lawyer Joe Giglio listed all the works pre- sented by the prosecution, submit- ting that each of them was public works, and not private commis- sions carried out abusively using public funds. Debono is accused of having mis- appropriated over €5,000 in public funds by virtue of his employment; of having profited to the tune of over €5,000 from public monies and private contractors; used his official capacity as a civil servant to his own private advantage, in der- eliction of his public duty; rendered himself an accomplice in the fal- sification of public documents for the issuing of payments and goods; and abused of his public role and of public acts entrusted to him. Giglio challenged prosecuting inspector Ian Abdilla over the out- right majority of some 22 works that whistleblower Joseph Cauchi alleges were privately-commis- sioned works carried out on the ministerial budget. Cauchi, a contractor who now en- joys protection under the Whistle- blower Act, is to testify in the compilation of evidence against Debono next week. Cauchi has told police investiga- tors that Debono would pay him for private works under a system of false invoicing so that private works could be financed by the ministerial budget. At times the prosecution was un- able to answer whether works they insisted were privately commis- sioned, could have been "spillovers" from public works: in one case, a farm access road that finished "just 10 centimetres" beyond a private gate, Giglio said. Giglio ran through each individ- ual contract listed as evidence, to ask Inspector Ian Abdilla on what ground had the police surmised that works such as those for Gharb FC's football ground, had been con- sidered "privately commissioned". The line of questioning turned out to be uncomfortable for Ab- dilla, who as Giglio was about to repeat all throughout the sitting, had to answer how public works requested by a local council, volun- tary organisations, for public safety reasons, or for farm access roads could be considered illicit. Abdilla tried rebutting Cauchi's line of questioning, saying that many works were not carried out according to public tender. But here Giglio would point out that Debono, a civil servant, was not being called to answer to the Public Service Commission or the Internal Audit and Investigation Department. "These are financial breaches you mention here… not the charges of fraud you have ac- cused my client of." Giglio cruised through almost each of the individual works, point- ing out why they could not be con- sidered 'private' works. He said a basement excavated for Brookies restaurant, allegedly a wine cellar according to Abdilla, had been necessary for works re- lated to the flooding in the area. In one case of a surfaced coun- tryside lane, Insp. Abdilla insisted that the road passing through the country led directly to a private residence and over private proper- ty. But Giglio said that the CMU's role was to provide farm access roads. A Fontana road surfaced by Cauchi allegedly on instruction by Debono, was claimed by Giglio to have been created to divert rainfall away from farmers' fields. Abdilla said that there was no documenta- tion substantiating Giglio's claims, and that the road did not appear to serve as a diversion for flooding. "I never accused Debono of hav- ing carried out private works," Insp. Abdilla said. "I presented a conclu- sive list of accusations by Cauchi, as a whistleblower, which I investi- gated, and which I have presented in its entirety to the court. I never specifically referred to any works being carried out either publicly or privately." Giglio also said that works Cauchi carried out for €13,000, allegedly at the behest of Anthony Debono for quarry owner Sammy Camilleri, had been settled by Camilleri him- self. Giglio asked Abdilla in his cross examination, whether he had un- questioningly considered Cauchi to have been set for whistleblowers' protection considering that the al- legations first made the news on 8 March, and then were followed by Cauchi seeking protection under the law on 1 April. Inspector Abdilla said the police examined the evidence seized from the Gozo ministry and that police spoke to ministry officials, but not to contractor Joe Cauchi, who ac- cused Anthony Debono, or the beneficiaries connected to the 22 sites in which the works were car- ried out. Abdilla said they only interrogat- ed the beneficiaries after hearing what Cauchi told them. Joseph Muscat on Reporter Anthony Debono