[WATCH] Fenech Adami: MP withdrew ODZ application 'to stop PL campaign dead in its tracks'

The PN’s spokesperson for agriculture withdrew an ODZ application to avoid “a character assassination by the Labour Party” and not because he was caught doing something wrong, according to deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami.

Toni Bezzina, who co-authored the PN’s environment policy, filed a planning application for the restoration of three small dwellings – which would be adjoined and turned into one – and the construction of a swimming pool in a land which falls outside development zones in Rabat.

But after the application – filed under his wife’s name – was revealed by the Labour media, Bezzina announced he would withdraw the application “out of loyalty to the Nationalist Party”.

"There is nothing wrong in simply submitting a planning application; the problem would be if an application is accepted abusively," Fenech Adami insisted, when pressed by MaltaToday.

"From what I understood, Bezzina's application would match the Planning Authority's policies, but he chose to withdraw it because he could suspect that Labour was planning to mount a campaign against him to deviate public attention."

The Nationalist Party has made environment, and the protection of ODZ land, one of its main causes for the upcoming general elections.

Bezzina’s application was rendered possible by a rural policy document published by the Labour government in 2014, that allowed for the rehabilitation of old buildings inside ODZ land. 

According to media reports, Bezzina had actually applied to construct a three-bedroom villa complete with a garage, a wine cellar, three bedrooms and a pool, among other amenities.

'Deceptive campaign against me based on lies' - Fenech Adami

Fenech Adami was addressing a press conference, held after the courts ordered One News to pay him €3000 in libel damages over reports that he had been allowed to expand his house because he had been given preferential treatment by the PN administration at the time.

"The court's decision proves that whenever Labour has its back to the wall, it fabricates fake stories against the Opposition to try and deviate public attention," he said. "After sending journalists to film my house with a drone, the editor didn't even have the decency to appear in court to substantiate his claims."