PM confirms Joseph Portelli meeting on eve of fundraiser but denies receiving donations

Prime Minister Robert Abela confirmed meeting Gozitan developer Joseph Portelli earlier this month but denied receiving donations or discussing development applications with him. 

Abela categorically denied that he or other Labour Party officials accepted any donations during the event. 

He was reacting to a story published by The Shift News that said Abela was a guest of honour at a private dinner organised by Portelli, a Gozitan construction magnate.

Abela met with other Gozitan contractors and entrepreneurs at the dinner event, which took place on the eve of a Labour Party fundraising campaign. 

The dinner took place one week before the Planning Authority approved a controversal development application involving Portelli. Together with two other applications, the three-permit package will see a block of 125 apartments built just 300 metres from the cliff edge in Sannat, Gozo.

Objectors flagged that the development was being sliced into three permits to avoid further scrutiny. But during the board meeting, the PA chair told objectors that it was not in their remit to assess "salami-slicing" tactics. 

Abela insisted that no planning permits were discussed during the dinner event, and denied accepting any donations at the event.

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