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James Debono
Former Sliema mayor Albert Bonello Du Puis has revealed that on the basis of a verbal agreement reached three years ago between him and Charles Polidano, the construction magnate should have carried out pavement works and tarmacking in four particular roads in Sliema instead of paying the local council Lm80,000.
Bonello Du Puis claims Polidano never honoured the verbal agreement to redeem the sum he owed to the council as compensation for the encroachment on public land of his company’s tower crane, which still dwarfs the Preluna Hotel.
Polidano denies he owes anything, claiming that the encroachment lies on private land.
The encroachment serves as a supporting structure for the crane, which also consists of a tunnel through which pedestrians walking past the former Golden 7 take-away outlet have had to pass for the past three years.
The former mayor and the council’s executive officer Althea Muscat have signed an affidavit confirming that a gentleman’s agreement had been reached with Polidano. They also claim the agreement was reached in the presence of a foreman employed by Polidano.
But Charles Polidano denies knowledge of any agreement with the ex-mayor and insists he is not bound to pay the council anything for an encroachment which lies on a private concession.
“The tower crane lies on the concession for the Promenade Hotel. Therefore I do not owe any money to the council,” Polidano told MaltaToday.
However Bonello Du Puis insists that according to law Polidano was obliged to pay Lm1 per square metre every day for encroaching on public land. The verbal agreement covered the period between 2003 to 2005. “After making the necessary measurements which have been recorded in records kept at the council, I reached a sort of gentleman’s agreement with Polidano.”
He also adds that Ian Farrugia, a foreman of Polidano Brothers, was present when the agreement was reached. But when contacted by this newspaper, Farrugia denied any knowledge of the verbal agreement.
Bonello Du Puis is holding his ground in the face of Polidano’s denials. “Since Polidano has never honoured the agreement, the council should not pay Polidano for other works carried out in Sliema,” the former mayor said, who cites a legal precedent absolving government from paying persons who still owed it money.
The former mayor is also angry at the way Polidano conducted works in Rudolph Street. “These works have not been certified by the council’s architect and will have to be done again,” laments the former mayor.
The former mayor’s revelation has caused a storm in the local council, with Labour councillor Martin Debono protesting that the council had not been informed on this verbal agreement. He also protested that the council had not been involved in choosing which roads would have benefited from this agreement.
The roads chosen by the mayor on that occasion were Gorg Borg, Dun Karm Psaila, Karm Galea and Guze Howard streets.
Subsequently, new Sliema mayor Marina Arrigo proposed a motion seconded by the MLP councillor which absolved the new council of honouring any agreement reached without the approval of the previous council or which were not included in the council’s financial report.
The council’s accountant had described the outstanding payment of the crane as a “dubious one”.
But contacted by MaltaToday the former mayor insists that he had informed the council on the verbal agreement. As controversy on past payments for the tower crane and its supporting structure rages in the council, the tower crane which hoisted the PN flag during euphoric celebrations after the 2003 elections, still dwarfs the Preluna Hotel up to this day.
jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt
Links: www.maltatoday.com.mt/2006/04/09/t11.html
www.maltatoday.com.mt/2006/04/23/t9.html
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