Marsaskala mayor’s request to Sadeen ‘amounts to bribery’ – eNGOs

The national NGOs Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA), Friends of the Earth (FoE), Ramblers Association, and KoPIN have categorically condemned Marsaskala mayor’s request that Sadeen Education Investments construct new premises for the Marsaskala Local Council in return for a blessing to develop Zonqor point and give away precious public ODZ land. 

"In the opinion of the NGOs this amounts to bribery, and the moral integrity of Mario Calleja, Marsaskala mayor, becomes highly questionable," the NGOs said in a press statement. 

Calleja had publicly announced that he had asked a favour of the Sadeen Group, which he said would enrich his locality. 

"The fact that last January the Marsacala Local Council had asked Government to ensure that the open space at Zonqor Point remained protected and unbuilt ”for the enjoyment of the public”, only to reverse its stand a few months later, speaks volumes.  

"The ODZ land in question belongs neither to the mayor personally, nor to his locality, but to the Maltese nation as a whole. To even contemplate accepting, let alone asking for such a bribe goes against fundamental morality and cannot be justified by any stretch of the imagination."

The organizations also condemned plans for the new premises to be constructed in a public garden, thus impacting residents and their access to open spaces further. 

"Calleja’s statement that he would “take what he could” from the deal with Sadeen is reminiscent of calls to “make hay while the sun shines”; there is something very wrong with our society when those holding public positions publicly advocate opportunistic values instead of the common good.

"The acceptance of what can be considered a direct bribe to a local authority, corrupts moral principles, weakens the fabric of civil society as a whole, and has to be opposed in strongest terms."

The NGOs called for the prime minister to take serious steps against such corrupt practices.