UPDATED | 'Fake news' - PN says it never voted in favour of Mellieħa land transfer

Updated with Labour Party statement 

The Nationalist Party has accused Economy Minister Silvio Schembri of attempting to deflect blame onto the Opposition in relation to a controversial land transfer in Mellieħa.

In a statement, the PN rejected claims carried in Sunday’s edition of It-Torċa, insisting that the Opposition’s former spokesperson for lands, Rebekah Borg, had not even been present for the Lands Authority meeting that approved the transfer of public land to a private company. 

“Therefore, she could never have voted in favour,” the PN said, citing the official minutes.

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The party argued that Schembri could not hide behind the Lands Authority to evade responsibility, stressing that the government maintained “absolute control” over the authority. 

Out of ten board members, nine are appointed by the government, the PN noted, while the board secretary at the time was Schembri’s own chief of staff.

“It is an insult to the intelligence of the Maltese people for the Minister to claim that he had no control over the Authority or no involvement because the Board is ‘autonomous,’” the PN said.

The party further explained that the board did not decide policy matters and that the Mellieħa transfer had been preceded by technical valuations reviewed and approved by government-controlled members of the board. 

The PN insisted that the transfer of the land as a government decision carried out under “dubious conditions” and without the support of PN representatives. 

It also pointed out that while the Mellieħa local council, then led by a Labour majority, had not raised any objections, PN councillors had consistently opposed the deal. After the PN won control of the council, it said, the new administration filed a legal appeal against the development.

“The PN is committed to continue working to ensure that our communities have more green spaces – not see them handed over abusively by a Government that places the interests of the few above the common good,” the PN stressed.

Official documentation disproves PN claim – PL

In a statement issued on Sunday evening, the Labour Party said it had official documentation which clearly show what the PN is denying.

“The official minutes of the Lands Authority published in the report issued on August 14th by the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life clearly show that Dr Rebekah Borg was present and voted in favour of the proposal in question,” the PL said.

It said it is useless for the PN MP to try to hide what she did with the statement issued, because the documents confirm black on white that Borg was present and voted on both occasions when the Land Authority Board meetings took place in order to discuss and eventually approve the evaluation of this land in order to be able to issue a call for it to be developed.

“This is another attempt to distort the facts to give the public a false impression. It is really incredible when the facts are clear and official documents, the Nationalist Party comes up with a statement full of lies, when it knows that it will be caught. It is the Nationalist Party that is fake and spreading incorrect information in relation to this case, which has tried to blame it on others,” the PL said.