Government denies €500 million expropriation debt

Parliamentary secretary for lands Jason Azzopardi has contradicted claims in General Workers Union daily l-orizzont that the €4.5 million national debt was encumbered by another €500 million in debt over public lands government had expropriated for public purposes.

Azzopardi said the value of pre-1995 expropriated land was €50 million, after which the law was changed so that expropriated landowners are paid compensation faster.

“The news report is a lie… the €50 million comprises land which in its majority was expropriated during Labour governments and their owners were never paid. The present-day government is remedying this injustice,” Azzopardi said.

The government has paid an average of €10 million every year for the past 10 years, according to Azzopardi.

“We gave 500 families a total of €5 million to become owners of property built on lands that had been expropriated in the 1970s and 1980s, but who could not be given legal title over their property unless the original landowners had be compensated.”