Tonio Fenech fails to announce libel as contractor insists on 'favour' works

The minister was reacting to a statement made earlier in the day by contractor Charles Magro who lashed out for what Fenech had said in press statement on September 26, after Enemalta denied a claim by Labour leader Joseph Muscat that one of its employees was being victimised for being a whistleblower.

In a statement issued later today, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech accused Magro of having a "purely political agenda, by repeating the same allegations during the preparations for the Budget."

"Magro is speaking about works that were carried out under private contract, and which payments were were made in full and as a contractor accepted as fully settled."

He insisted that JPM directors had taken an oath categorically denying the allegations. Tonio Fenech reiterated his invitation to anyone to see the documentation that shows that all works were carried out above board.

Magro was involved in a dispute with finance minister Tonio Fenech, over unpaid works he had carried out at the minister's home under contract with JPM Brothers, the mega-developer behind such projects as the Addolarata cemetery tower apartments and the Galaxy Hotel redevelopment in Sliema.

On 8 November 2009, MaltaToday  had revealed that Fenech was embroiled in a dispute with Rainbow Turnkey Projects, owned by Charles Magro, who claimed they have not been paid in full for works carried out at his house.

According to Magro, who was subcontracted by JPM Brothers to carry out the renovation, JPM director Peter Montebello told him the works were a favour in return for the minister’s intervention in the sale of the Jerma hotel to entrepreneurs George Fenech and Joe Gasan.

In a statement issued this morning, Magro insisted he would not withdraw a single word of what he said and "every interview that I might made about this case."

Magro said Fenech could  “sue me for libel as soon as possible,” if he thought that what he had said was a lie. “I do not have any fear because what I have said is the truth and the reality,” he insisted.

Magro also stressed he was going to take an oath on what he had said “and pass it on to the press at the right moment”.

Regarding his employment at Enemalta, Magro also challenged the Finance Minister to “check at any time my working records and should fine that I have a good conduct... I wholeheartedly await  Fenech to sue me for libel so that I would have the occasion of repeating in Court what I have already told Edgar Galea Curmi, who works at Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi’s office,” Magro concluded his statement.

When MaltaToday revealed that works at the minister's house were allegedly being carried out for free in return for his brokerage services, Tonio Fenech had vehemently denied acting as a broker in the sale of the Jerma – which was understood to have fallen through – and on 9 November 2009 filed a judicial protest against this newspaper, demanding an apology.

The same protest had been filed against Opposition leader Joseph Muscat, head of One News Glenn Bedingfield, and Charles Magro.

MaltaToday had filed a counter-protest, defending its right to report on elected representatives who, in a democratic society, should be reasonably subjected to public scrutiny.

On 11 November 2009, Rainbow Projects also instituted legal proceedings against JPM Brothers, to reclaim monies on services rendered for the works on the minister’s residence. Magro says Montebello told him the minister was helping him sell off the Jerma hotel to Joe Gasan and Georgee Fenech, the two entrepreneurs with whom Tonio Fenech had travelled to Spain to watch Arsenal play in Spain last April.

Fenech had categorically denied asking JPM Brothers to carry out works in his private residence with the aim of concluding business on the Jerma sale. “It’s a lie. My arrangement with JPM Brothers was against payment, as according to their quote. Rainbow were sub-contractors for JPM Brothers and I cannot comment on the exchange that took place between them.”

Tonio Fenech had told MaltaToday that when Rainbow had started slowing down work at his house because they were not being paid by JPM, he had offered to take over the arrangement and pay them directly. The company dealt in large-scale projects and was not known to carry out house renovations, such as the job they undertook at Fenech’s semi-detached villa in Balzan.