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Karl Schembri
The Director for Local Government, Natalino Attard, has given his verdict in the Munxar playing field saga, and to the opponents’ dismay, he has approved the mayor’s plans to downsize the project by half so that the rest remains in private hands.
The decision was taken after months of quarrelling in this peaceful village about a piece of public land previously promised to be turned into a playing field for the Munxar people. An agreement signed between the Munxar mayor, Joseph Sultana, and a private individual, Angelo Debrincat, will mean that only half of the playing field will be constructed as the rest will be for Debrincat’s personal use.
Department director Natalino Attard informed MaltaToday that after this newspaper had reported the local opposition to this agreement, his office “investigated the allegations made and consulted its legal advisor”.
PN Deputy Mayor Mark Bajada and Labour councillor Robert Mallia had both urged Attard to investigate the agreement and declare it illegal, but the director was of a different opinion: “It transpires that the procedure used is legally in order,” he said last Friday.
Since 2001, the mayor has been changing the original plans as approved by Munxar residents to develop an area land known as Ta’ Marziena into a playing field. Debrincat has since that year been paying a meagre Lm1.25 to the Joint Office to use the land for farming.
To prove that he can claim title to the land in question, Debrincat sent his receipts since 2001 in a legal letter to the council in the last weeks, but the councillors opposing the plans say the move towards halving the project started precisely in the same year since he started paying.
Munxar residents also expressed their disappointment at the failed electoral promises of their council.
“If those receipts give Debrincat a title according to law, the mayor could have asked the President of the Republic to evict him like the farmers of Xaghra l-Hamra,” one resident said cynically. “I’m sure this playing field is in the best interest of the Munxar public, unlike a golf course.”
Mallia has also come under immense pressure from the Labour Party and by Labour councillor Carmen Said to abandon his stand in favour of a full playing field, although the reasons behind this pressure remain unclear.
Even Debrincat’s lawyer accused Mallia of being “the cause of unrest within his own political party”.
Mallia has however stood up against the party’s pressure, although he says he is considering resigning from Labour.
Bajada and Mallia might actually resign from the council in protest against the director’s final decision.
The local councils director’s verdict and the future of the two opposing councillors are expected to be discussed in the next council meeting, this Tuesday, 20 September.
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