Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/791658
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 26 FEBRUARY 2017 11 JAMES DEBONO MARSASKALA mayor Mario Calleja has confirmed that the town's local council will issue a tender for the construction of a new local council office in St Anne's garden, which the mayor said will "meet European stand- ards". When asked whether this will deprive residents of an open space, Calleja told MaltaToday that the new offices would be developed on a paved area at the back of the garden. "I can assure you that not a sin- gle tree will be removed and the garden will also be embellished… it will be located in an area where children used to put poles to play football." Asked whether the new of- fice will be financed by Sadeen Group – the Jordanian company which is to build the American University of Malta campus in Marsaskala – the mayor replied that the council has enough money for this project, some of it deriving from savings and from the €60,000 Planning Authority's Urban Improvement Fund. He added that any additional financial assistance from Sadeen Group can only come in the form of a "planning gain" imposed by the Planning Authority when it issues a permit. He also excluded the develop- ment of private facilities in the new building, insisting that apart from council facilities the new building will only include a room to serve as a polyclinic. The relocation of the office is being opposed by Nationalist councillor Charlot Cassar, whom the mayor accuses of political motivations. But Cassar insists that "not enough commitment has been applied to finding an alternative solution to grabbing from the little open space left in Marsaskala". "As a local council and as resi- dents, we are guardians of our locality and have an obligation to protect our heritage and safe- guard it for future generations. Building in a public garden vio- lates this fundamental principle and a lot of residents find it un- acceptable". Cassar is calling on the local council to set an example by con- sidering the use of old abandoned buildings such as Villa Mondello, a stately historical building, to provide Marsaskala with digni- fied offices for its council. "Having a local council office with a cultural connection to the town is more prestigious than some irrelevant out-of-the-box lego structure, and will surely be far more appreciated by the local community". Villa Mondello is a listed build- ing which used to be a school in the 1930's but is now abandoned. The mayor has shot down the idea by pointing out that the building would not be accessible for disabled persons. Cassar insists that Villa Mon- dello is just one of the possibili- ties which can be considered. "There are definitely other op- tions available around Marsaska- la if we stop looking at the issue stubbornly and open our eyes to the other unutilised buildings". He also wants the local com- munity to be involved in the site selection for the council office, something which would enable the community " to participate in the selection of the building they would like to see as home for the local council that represents their interests." Last month MaltaToday re- vealed that the government, through Projects Malta, was ac- tively considering the develop- ment of a car park in the same garden but the project was shot down by both Mayor Calleja and the PN councillor. Plans to build an administrative building for the council at the back of the gar- den near Triq Santa Tereza, had already been announced by the mayor in 2011 along plans for a car park. The proposed car park in St Anne's garden had been dis- carded under the previous ad- ministration. Replying to a par- liamentary question by Labour MP Owen Bonnici in 2011, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had re- plied that the council had aban- doned its plans for a car park on the same site "because the project was not well received by residents." When contacted in 2011 by MaltaToday, Mayor Calleja gave other reasons why the project was stopped. "We decided to put the project on hold because for the moment we have too much on our plate as our energies are absorbed in a number of other ongoing major projects." Calleja insisted that it was al- ways the council's intention to consult residents. "In fact, that was the whole point of issuing a call for expressions of interest which was to be followed by pub- lic consultation." jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Its com- pany secretary is Clinton Calleja, a senior associate at Guido de Mar- co & Associates – who happens to also be company secretary to Al- lied Newspapers, which is owned in its majority by the Strickland Foundation, on whose council Mario de Marco sits. But the PN deputy leader for par- liamentary affairs has steered clear from answering whether his firm's role in SD Finance is a political conflict for him. "The lawyer appointed serves as company secretary to a number of public companies, listed and regu- lated entities. The services offered by Guido de Marco & Associates Advocates are of a general legal nature and not of a commercial nature," de Marco told MaltaTo- day yesterday. This newspaper is informed that de Marco himself has attended meetings with the government, dealing with the Hard Rock Hotel project, with representatives of the company. Opposition leader Simon Busut- til himself has questioned the fair- ness of the cash payment that DB San Gorg Property will be paying for the ITS land: a €5 million down payment, and then a €10 million payment interest-free, payable over seven annual installments. Of the total €65 million valuation for the land, €23.4 million will be paid in ground rents by purchasers of the property that DB San Gorg will develop on site. The parliamentary sitting of 7 February, during which the Na- tionalist Party took to task the ITS sale and minister Konrad Mizzi, was perhaps conspicuous by de Marco's absence by the side of Bu- suttil. Even Nationalist MP Marthese Portelli complained that the sale of the land, namely the €15 mil- lion cash payment from the total €65 million valuation, had created a "non-level playing field". Reacting to questions on his par- ty's stand, de Marco said that the PN leader had raised "a number of pertinent questions in parliament as to how the value of the land was established by the government and as to how such value was reflected in the consideration to be paid by purchaser, which questions need to be addressed." In the past Busuttil has expressed doubts on the valuation of public land, and said he would not sup- port the project unless his doubts on the value and access to public foreshore are not resolved. De Marco yesterday also did not commit himself to a stand whether the transfer of the ITS land should take place by parliamentary reso- lution. "The law governing disposal of government land states that gov- ernment land can be disposed of either through a parliamentary resolution or through a public ten- der process. In this case, the gov- ernment opted to go through the public tender route. Whichever option is chosen should be always the subject of public scrutiny," de Marco said. Influence across the party divide Connections with the political world are important facets of the corporate world. DB San Gorg Property's own company secretary is the lawyer Vincent Micallef, who is a director of the Labour Party's TV station's company One Production, and of the party's mobile phone provider Redtouch Fone. Back in 2008, it was revealed that Labour MP Charles Mangion was the notary in the deed of sale at Pender Place, after Labour leader Alfred Sant himself denounced the sale of Pender Place in St Julian's. On that occasion, Mangion de- fended the apparent contradiction by stressing that he has the right to continue working despite his par- ty's public position on the project: "This is my professional work and as deputy leader, this is my source of income. When Mid-Med Bank was sold to HSBC, I had also criti- cised the sale, but I cannot stop working and I still get to work on contracts for HSBC as a notary." Various MPs retain directorships in businesses which may come to need some form of political influ- ence when public policy affects their commercial interests. In the past, Nationalist MP Francis Zam- mit Dimech was also a director of the Seabank Hotel, which is owned by hotelier Silvio Debono, the de- veloper of DB San Gorg. Nation- alist deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami is also listed as a company secretary of Peninsula Investments and Dragonara Resort Limited – the operators of the Westin Hotel – whose directors include Charles Polidano, Paul Gauci and Mark Portelli. News Cassar wants the council to set an example by considering the use of old abandoned buildings such as Villa Mondello Marsaskala council set to move in 'treeless' part of St Anne garden The local council's office is being proposed at the back of St Anne Garden Villa Mondello was proposed as an alternative by PN councillor Charlot Cassar De Marco: 'Services of general legal nature'