Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/528426
6 TIM DIACONO THE Nationalist Party yesterday insisted that planning parliamen- tary secretary Michael Falzon had known early on about the govern- ment's controversial plans to expro- priate half a property in Old Mint Street, Valletta, from Mark Gaf- farena. "Falzon has told MaltaToday that he had gone on a hunting holiday with Mark Gaffarena back in 2003, when he was PL deputy leader," shadow justice minister Jason Az- zopardi told a press conference. "Falzon and Gaffarena are closely acquainted and Gaffarena had told Falzon what he had wanted in ex- change for the Old Mint Street property. Instead of telling him that there was no public purpose behind expropriating it and that doing so would be a waste of money, Falzon referred him to the Lands Depart- ment. "At Lands, Gaffarena was accom- panied by Clint Scerri, a member of Falzon's secretariat. Falzon then personally signed two expropria- tion deals for the two quarters that were registered as a building site, shooting their value up." He insisted that both Falzon and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat must shoulder political responsibility. Azzopardi also had harsh words for the police, who had told Malta- Today that they haven't started in- vestigating the case as they haven't yet received a report to do so. "This is scandalous and absurd," Azzopardi said. "The police are legally obliged to investigate suspi- cious cases, even if they haven't re- ceived a report." In January this year, the govern- ment paid Gaffarena €822,500 for a quarter of the property that he had bought in December 2007. Last February, Gaffarena bought another quarter of the property for €139,762, which the government subsequently expropriated for an- other €822,500, in April. The money was paid in cash and parcels of land that were of strate- gic and commercial importance to Gaffarena – land at White Rocks, Ta' Kandja, Handaq, Zebbug, and a property in Triq Manwel Dimech, Sliema. The Old Mint Street building at the centre of the controversy houses the government offices of the Build- ing Industry Consultative Council, and Falzon has said that the govern- ment had to expropriate at least part of it to avoid eviction by 2028. However, Azzopardi insisted that governments should only expropri- ate land if it is in the public inter- est. In this case, he argued that the BICC offices could easily have been moved elsewhere. "Governments rarely grant lands as compensation for expropriation and when they do it's usually for large pieces of land," he said. "Even here, the government has the legal right to choose which lands it wants to give out as part of the deal, and to choose those lands that make most sense to it." 'Granting of land was careless, reckless and abusive' One of the properties granted to Gaffarena as part of the compen- sation deal was a shop at Manwel Dimech Street, Sliema, underlying a townhouse that he had bought two years earlier. Gaffarena has since applied with MEPA to demolish both townhouse and shop for the construction of five garages, ten apartments and a penthouse. The Government Property Di- vision had valued the shop at just €65,000 because it was not a free- hold property and still under a tem- porary emphyteusis that is due to expire in 2016. "This means that its value will shoot up next year," Azzopardi ex- plained. "Who in their right mind would sell a property whose value they know will rise in a year's time? Granting the shop as part of the compensation was careless, reckless and abusive." The Times of Malta yesterday reported that GPD architects had started assessing land at Bahar ic- Caghaq that Gaffarena would re- ceive as compensation for the sec- ond expropriation while it was still on a promise-of-sale agreement. Gaffarena actually purchased the second quarter on February 26 and the architects' assessment of the Bahar ic-Caghaq land was dated February 16, only three days after Gaffarena had offered to sell the second quarter of the Old Mint Street building to the government. "This is further proof that Gaf- farena had inside information," Opposition MP Ryan Callus said. "Everything fits in place for him too perfectly for it all to simply be a coincidence, and the whole thing stinks of corruption. "It wasn't a mistake either, but pre- meditated and intentional." maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 17 JUNE 2015 News PN insists Falzon had 'early knowledge of Old Mint Street property scandal' Falzon dismisses Gaffarena outrage as 'just like 1970s strikes against Mintoff' PLANNING parliamentary sec- retary Michael Falzon accused the Nationalist Party of using the ongoing Gaffarena controversy to put a spoke in the wheel of the government's creation of wealth, drawing comparisons with the ordering of strikes under the late, former Prime Minister Dom Mintoff. "This is a repeat of the seven- ties," Falzon lamented on Mon- day night's edition of the TV cur- rent affairs programme Reporter. "When Mintoff had started cre- ating wealth, the PN did all in its power to disrupt the govern- ment's efforts with strikes. It is doing the same now." The PN have called on Falzon to resign, insisting that he had had early knowledge on the govern- ment's plan to expropriate half a property in Old Mint Street, Val- letta. The expropriation meant a huge profit for Mark Gaffarena, who owned half the property and had bought that half for a pit- tance. "When the scandal broke out, Falzon quickly denied that he was personally involved," shadow justice minister Jason Azzopardi said. "Last week, Falzon admitted that he signed off the expropria- tion deal, which is logical. What isn't logical is that he didn't ask questions about the deal before signing it off. "We now know that Mark Gaf- farena had personally met Falzon and offered to sell a quarter of the property to the government. That is unprecedented." Gaffarena was compensated for the property in cash and parcels of land that were of commercially strategic importance to him. Falzon dodged a question as to whether Gaffarena had person- ally cherry-picked the lands that were granted to him as partial compensation for the property. "It is not my remit as a politician to go around valuing lands, and I didn't impose myself on the ar- chitects who did," Falzon said. 'Fekruna expropriation in the public interest' – Azzopardi Launching his own criticism, Falzon switched focus to the pre- vious Nationalist administration, arguing that he had not dined with Gaffarena as former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had with Ray Vella, the restaurateur whom the government awarded with a €4.3 million land swap three days before the 2013 gen- eral election. Azzopardi, who was parliamen- tary secretary for lands at the time, dismissed the comparison and argued that the expropria- tion of land at Fekruna Bay was "in the public interest". "The PN had promised in our 2008 manifesto to expropriate private land in scenic areas to be enjoyed by the community," Az- zopardi said. "We had identified five such sites by the end of 2008, including Fekruna Bay." He pointed out that three in- dependent architects, including one from the private sector, had agreed to value the Fekruna site at €5 million and that the expro- priation process lasted almost three and a half years. "Back in March, I had challenged the Prime Minister to publish the government files on the expro- priation deals for Café Premier and Fekruna, but he hasn't done so yet," Azzopardi said. Michael Falzon HAVE YOUR SAY 4JHOVQBOEMPHPOUP.50CTFSWFSBOEIBWFZPVSTBZPO FWFSZUIJOHGSPNDVSSFOUBõBJSTUPMPDBMUSFOETXJUIUIF DIBODFUPXJOQSJ[FTJOPVSXFFLMZDPNQFUJUJPOT.50CTFSWFS JTZPVSDIBODFUPDPOUSJCVUFUPUIFGBTUQBDFEXPSMEPGUIF NFEJBBOEMFOEZPVSWPJDFUPUIFEJTDVTTJPO 7JTJUPCTFSWFSNBMUBUPEBZDPNNU