[WATCH] Deborah Schembri sworn in as parliamentary secretary

Deborah Schembri sworn in as parliamentary secretary for lands

In her first comments to reporters as parliamentary secretary for planning, junior minister Deborah Schembri said she was looking forward to the challenge of overseeing the overhaul of the Lands Department.

Schembri was today sworn in as the third parliamentary secretary for planning and simplification of administrative processes in three years.

Defending her predecessor, Schembri said Michael Falzon was not found of having done anything illegal and she didn’t doubt Falzon’s statements.

“But now it’s also time to learn from the report and move forward. It is important to point out that a lot of work has already been carried out … I today visited the GPD and saw the organisation that Falzon had introduced,” she said, adding that the government did not doubt the NAO reports.

Schembri commented that the report should also be seen in light of the system and operations of the GPD.

Falzon resigned his post in the wake of a damning report by the National Audit Office that found he had exercised no safeguard for government’s interest in expropriating a 50% stake of a Valletta property owned by Marco Gaffarena.

The NAO also found collusion in breach of good governance.

Questions posed to Schembri on what she would do differently to avoid repetition were replied by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. It was in light of the conclusions of the NAO report that the new procedures will come into place, he said.

“I want to avoid future situations that are open to interpretation or require the politician’s sign off. The NAO said Falzon did nothing illegal but it was his signature that authorised everything,” Muscat said.

He argued, that the Lands Department should adopt a system whereby the politician’s involvement is limited to giving political direction and setting policies.

“The administration of transactions should be automatic, independent of politicians. This ensures better governance and transparency,” Muscat said.

Muscat praised the “strong base built by Michael Falzon” which Schembri will be building upon, making specific reference to the MEPA demerger and schemes which “don’t hit the headlines” but which made a big difference to stakeholders.

Describing the NAO report as a “condemnation” on the Lands Department’s operations, Muscat yesterday said that operations at the Lands Department had stopped, and that NAO findings would be forwarded to the Attorney General for his review of whether any further action was required.

Muscat said the lands given to Gaffarena in the Old Mint Street expropriation deal will be taken back by government. He has now personally filed a court case against Marco Gaffarena and his wife Josielle to recoup the lands transferred to the couple in the expropriation of a palazzo in Old Mint Street, Valletta.  

The court was asked to revoke all transfers made in terms of two expropriation contracts. It was also asked to order the Gaffarenas to return all assets to government. Last year, government paid €1.65 million for part ownership of the Valletta property that Gaffarena had bought for a fraction of the price just weeks earlier.

The court was also asked to issue a warrant of seizure equivalent to the funds already paid to the Gaffarenas and a warrant to stop the Gaffarenas from transferring properties handed to them by the government.