[WATCH] Marsaskala mayor 'bargained' a €400,000 investment for local council

Marsaskala mayor said he never received gifts from Sadeen group, but did bargain for projects in the local council

Marsascala Mayor Mario Calleja (Photo: Ray Attard)
Marsascala Mayor Mario Calleja (Photo: Ray Attard)
Mayor Mario Calleja insisted he did not meet with Sadeen Group alone • Video by Ray Attard

The Sadeen Group, which plans to set up the American University of Malta partly at Zonqor Point in Marsaskala, is to contribute €400,000 in projects for the locality’s local council.

Mayor Mario Calleja made the point while presenting a motion at the local council meeting yesterday.

“Should MEPA approve the building of the American Univeristy in Zonqor, are we going to accept Sadeen’s offer to build new premises for the local council? If not, then let’s make it clear that, in the name of our community, we are refusing €400,000,” he told the meeting.

At the heated council meeting, Calleja denied having accepted ‘gifts’ from Sadeen Group and insisted that the meetings he had with the group’s CEO were not held in secret, as claimed in the media.

Calleja is under investigation by the Local Governance Board following reports that he accepted community infrastructure 'gifts' from Sadeen. Following these reports, he had said “I will take what I can. Otherwise, how are we going to build our new premises without the funds? We did what everyone else would do. There’s nothing wrong with this.”

“When I was informed of the meeting with Sadeen, I told the council secretary to inform all councillors. This was not a secret meeting at all because I did not meet them alone,” he said.

He said the meeting was “very fruitful” because the group’s representatives clearly explained to the local council what they had in mind. Calleja said it was only logical that he bargained for projects in Marsascala. Road works in Triq il-Blajjiet, a new drainage system and new lavatories were among the projects which the mayor proposed to Sadeen to help in.  

Deputy mayor Desiree Attard asked the mayor if he saw any problem with asking an investor to build the new local council premises. Calleja replied that the problem would have arisen if he had not asked for this. “We even went there with the blue prints in hand. It was our card to play.”

Attard explained that on the day they met with Sadeen, she was present and once the meeting was over she left. However, she said that some councillors and the mayor stayed on to speak with Sadeen. Also with them was an official from the Office of the Prime Minister, Alex Muscat, she added.

The deputy mayor said she had left the meeting because she was sure that it had been conlcuded.

The mayor expressed anger at media reports which claimed that he was bribed by the Sadeen Group.

He accused PN councillor Charlo Cassar with leaking information and false stories to the media, which Charlo Cassar denied, calling for a formal apology.

Desiree Attard said the local council should also discuss the actual location of where the new local council premises should be built.

The mayor’s motion was approved.