Qala Mayor: ‘I was attacked by employee of well-known Gozitan developer’

Qala mayor Paul Buttigieg has filed a police report claiming that he was attacked by an employee of a ‘well-known Gozitan developer’.

Buttigieg alleges that he was reviewing cleaning works in the locality when a truck driver ‘shot out of his truck and assaulted me physically’.

“[He] assulted me physically, shouting at me and telling me ‘Int inqabbad magħna’ (‘You’re picking on us’),” the mayor described on Facebook.

Buttigieg, a Labour mayor, has been particularly vocal on possible planning projects on the site of Ħondoq ir-Rummien. In the past he said that no development should take place in the area, even slamming government for not protecting the bay from development.

Ħondoq ir-Rummien should return to ODZ, at all costs… | Paul Buttigieg

“This attack is further proof that some cowboys think they own Gozo and do not even want us to protest against  the way they are ruining it. I am not going to lose heart and will continue standing up against the destruction of Ħondoq, Qala and Gozo,” Buttigieg said.

He added that the attack resulted in minor injuries. The incident has since been reported to police.