Update 2 | 'Lands commissioner should have made reservations clear before' - PM

Former lands commissioner Joe Bugeja “never flagged specific reservations” in his resignation letter to the government, “nor did he ever mention the Premier issue” with the responsible parliamentary secretary, the government said.

Questioned by MaltaToday during a press conference earlier this afternoon, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat reiterated that Bugeja had “nine months during which he could have complained”.

“If he had a problem with the matter, he should have approached me or the parliamentary secretary, something which he never did. If he really had a problem with it, he should have refused to sign the contract,” Muscat said.

Muscat denied that he was personally involved in the Cafe Premier negotiations. 

He also confirmed that a number of encroachment agreements signed under the previous administration were under investigation.

Earlier, a government spokesperson said the government was “surprised” by comments which Bugeja gave to the The Times today.

The government also said that it “would not have been surprised” had Bugeja resigned over a number of dossiers – including a €4.3 million expropriation deal reached on the eve of the election – currently under scrutiny.

“Bugeja did not flag any particular case as a reason for his departure neither in his exit interview with the Principal Permanent Secretary nor in his letter of resignation which was tabled in Parliament,” the spokesperson said.

Bugeja is quoted by the newspaper as saying that the “Café deal was one reason I resigned”. It reported that, when pressed, Bugeja admitted his department had never been consulted on the deal reached between the Prime Minister and Cities Entertainment “and he had only signed the contract because he was told to do so”.

“I was the Land Commissioner and it was my job to sign the contract. However, I clearly told the Auditor General I was never consulted nor involved in the deal. I was only told about it when it was concluded and decided by the Cabinet,” Bugeja was quoted as saying.

He added that he was told to the sign the deal.

In its reply, the government said the Bugeja had never mentioned the Premier issue, neither to the then parliamentary secretary Michael Farrugia nor to his successor, Michael Falzon.

“As a regulator, it would have been his duty to flag specific reservations had he had them. Furthermore, he never met or sought a meeting with the Prime Minister on this or any other case,” the spokesperson said.

The government said that Bugeja handed in his resignation nine months after the signing of the said contract.

“The government would not have been surprised had Bugeja decided to resign‎ in the wake of the Fekruna scandal and other dossiers currently under scrutiny, and which happened under his watch during the previous administration," the spokesperson added.

‘Muscat attacking Bugeja for telling the truth’ – PN

In a statement, the Nationalist Party accused Muscat of directly attacking Bugeja for telling the truth, that one of the reasons he resigned was becasue of the Café Premier scandal.

“Freedom of expression is sacred and it is unacceptable for a Prime Minister to attack those who say what they feel,” the PN said. “Muscat clearly cannot find the words to defend his interference in the Café Premier deal. Rather than admitting to making a mistake, he decided to launch a hysterical attack to defend his scandalous behavior.

The PN also accused Muscat of lying when he said that he wasn’t personally involved in the Café Premier negotiations.

“According to the Auditor General’s report, Muscat was directly involved in the negotiations with Café Premier’s director, so much so that he proposed the financial officer himself and met up with Café Premier’s director both before and right after the general elections.”