Projects Malta chief unable to recall whether ITS land was valued before selection process

Projects Malta chairman James Camenzuli was unable to confirm on oath whether the contract in which the former ITS site in Paceville was transferred to the db Group actually reflected the bid accepted by the evaluation committee.

This emerged as Camenzuli took the witness stand before Magistrate Francesco Depasquale this morning in libel proceedings, which the hotel group, owned by Silvio Debono, had filed against Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Camenzuli explained how he has occupied the position of chairman at Projects Malta since July 2017 and had also served as chairman on the evaluation committee tasked with assessing bids for the development of the site in Paceville.

Read also: Government inks €60 million deal for Silvio Debono’s Hard Rock hotel on ITS site

The witness exhibited a summary of the events which culminated in the signing of the controversial deal. Camenzuli was asked whether the valuation of the property in question had preceded the choice of the preferred bidder, but did not reply.

Pressed by lawyer Joseph Zammit Maempel, appearing on behalf of the Caruana Galizia family, Camenzuli was unable to answer, but insisted that the db Group had been chosen as the preferred bidder since they met the requirements of the request for proposals.

With the question being rephrased several times, Camenzuli said that he would “have to check” and return to court with the necessary documentation.

The db Group plans to develop a €300 million project for a 315-room hotel under the Hard Rock franchise, as well as 209 residences in a high-rise building on the site of the former tourism school.

Lands excluded from pre-contractual negotiations 

Peter Mamo, deputy CEO of the Lands Authority also testified today. Mamo was Commissioner of Lands at the time of the highly controversial deal and had represented the government on the final deed.

Mamo explained how pre-contractual negotiations were always handled by consultants appointed by Projects Malta and the Lands Department had no say whatsoever in what went on at negotiations stage. The department also had no idea about the valuation of the property involved, he said.

Asked who had given him instructions regarding the signing of the contract, Mamo told the court that the department had been instructed directly by the office of then Parliamentary Secretary within OPM Deborah Schembri, responsible for lands at the time.

Mamo said he would have to check whether the instructions were in writing.

Price of the deal

Raphael Aloisio, a representative of Deloitte Malta, a local operator in business management consultancy services, explained that the company had been tasked by Projects Malta to evaluate the bid by the db Group in order to help government determine the price of the deal.

Aloisio explained that following a revision of conservative assumptions which had established the original bid at €17 million, the price was upped to €56.1 million - €44.9 million for residential and office space, €8.7 million for retail development and €2.5 million for the hotel.

Read also: db paying €15 million cash, but property buyers will front €23.4 million for ground rents

Asked by Zammit Maempel whether €50 per square metre of hotel space in a prime location was realistic, Aloisio replied it was.

Louis Gauci, a director in the hotel and construction industries, as well as Ivan Portelli, a director at the VAT Department, both mentioned by the assassinated journalist in her stories about the ITS deal, also took the witness stand today.

Gauci recalled how his “old friend” and business partner Silvio Debono had asked him to join him on an overland trip to the UK where he was planning to purchase a Maserati.

As Portelli, a friend of Gauci’s, had only recently completed the same journey after purchasing a car from the UK, the two had joined Debono and another friend in Leeds, completing the drive back home in three or four days, traveling in two cars, he said.

Portelli claimed that after being named by Caruana Galizia as the “taxman” who had accompanied Silvio Debono on his Maserati purchasing trip to the UK, he had been cleared by an internal ministerial inquiry which concluded that the property he lived in was his and all contracts had been entered into legally.

Portelli confirmed that he had not sued Caruana Galizia for libel.

The cases continues.