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Housing Authority chairman adopts tactic of silence

By Kurt Sansone

The normally outspoken Marisa Micallef Leyson would not comment about the Victor Sciberras Grioli case when contacted by MaltaToday on Friday. The Housing Authority chairperson said that she had nothing to add to the press release issued by the authority last week.

Ms Micallef Leyson added: "There may be more to say later on." When asked by this newspaper to specify what she meant by ‘later on’, Ms Micallef Leyson said: "More may be said after the next board meeting is held."

However, Ms Micallef Leyson did not disclose when the next board meeting was taking place, saying that the information was confidential.

The Victor Sciberras Grioli case was raised in Parliament by Opposition Leader Alfred Sant on 12 December. Dr Sant alleged that Mr Sciberras Grioli, who was the chief executive officer at the Housing Authority, had used authority contractors to carry out work at his son’s maisonette.

Dr Sant also alleged that Mr Sciberras Grioli made use of confidential information to obtain an apartment. The former CEO was also accused of informing Ms Micallef Leyson that the Housing Authority needed a garage in Santa Lucia, when he only needed the garage for his son.

Mr Sciberras Grioli was also accused of appointing architects for a Housing Authority project without consultation and with misinforming Housing Authority employees about the chairperson’s real intentions.

Dr Sant revealed that Mr Sciberras Grioli had boasted about leaking the Lay Lay story to the press before the 1998 general election and of being instrumental in the downfall of the Labour government.

Dr Sant said that the Prime Minister was informed of the corruption going on at the Housing Authority but instead of taking punitive action against Mr Sciberras Grioli, the CEO was transferred to Castille and given a promotion.

Dr Sant’s allegations went unanswered for a number of days and Ms Micallef Leyson did not comment when confronted by the Labour media.

However, the silence was broken on Monday 17 December when the Housing Authority issued a statement to rebut the ‘campaign in certain sections of the press to discredit the Housing Authority.’

The statement reiterated that many allegations were made but ‘this in no way turns all allegations into fact’.

The board of the Housing Authority expressed its confidence that it has always acted properly and rebutted any allegations that ‘would affect the proper functioning of the authority as a key provider in the field of social housing.’ The statement ended by expressing its support for the work done by Ms Micallef Leyson and condemned the attacks on her.

The saga continued on Tuesday 18 December when Mr Sciberras Grioli challenged Dr Sant to repeat the allegations in public. By means of judicial letter signed by his lawyer Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, Mr Sciberras Grioli said Dr Sant’s allegations were unfounded.

Despite the statement issued by the Housing Authority and the judicial letter, Dr Sant’s allegations have not yet been denied outright. Furthermore, Ms Micallef Leyson’s silence, even though the allegations do not concern her, is deafening in contrast to the usually outspoken style she adopts in her regular press contributions.