On Café Premier, MDA demands Lands reform

Construction lobby MDA has claimed that a €4.2 million payment to Cities Entertainment for their expropriation from the Café Premier in Valletta, was the Lands Department fault.

As the Office of the Prime Minister reels from a damning verdict by the NAO on the way it flouted good governance to buy back a 65-year lease on public land from a private company, the MDA – headed by Sandro Chetcuti – claimed that the audit showed a need for a reform of the Lands Department.

“In this case the Lands Department did not act cautiously and meticulously…  with every other citizen, including the MDA’s members.

“In these circumstances, the major lesson to be learnt from this episode is that there is an urgent need for a radical reform in the way the Lands Department operates. This reform should be aimed at making the department more efficient and transparent than it is at present and, in this way, it will ensure that everyone is treated in the same way using the same measure.”

The MDA also called for government investigations to identify those responsible and for them to be held accountable.