PN MP lashes out at sale of ITS land to Silvio Debono

Opposition MP Marthese Portelli poked holes in the government’s deal to sell a plot of public land in Pembroke currently occupied by the Institute of Tourism Studies to hotelier Silvio Debono.

In her parliamentary adjournment, she questioned why Debono will only fork out €15 million - €5 million straight up - for prime land of 24,000 square metres - that the controversial Paceville Masterplan had valued at €200 million.

She noted that the government last year sold 650 square metres of land in Paceville occupied by Stylish Bathrooms for €3.2 million. The previous administration sold Fort Cambridge (9,000 square metres) for €54 million.

She also questioned why the tender was issued during the Christmas period when several businesses are on shutdown, and why it required interested participants to pay a bid fee of €10,000 before even seeing the draft plans – contrary to normal procedure.

Moreover, she questioned why it was Projects Malta, and not the Lands Authority, that released the tender.

Damningly, she warned that Debono’s proposed project goes against both the existing local plans and the high-rise policy that was introduced by the current Labour administration.

“The deal stank from day one. The government is either amateur or it is ready to go out of its way to appease certain people. That is unjust on other businesses, which is why we have requested the Auditor General to investigate.”

The PN was recently engulfed in controversy over allegations that Opposition leader Simon Busuttil had personally asked Debono to fork out the monthy salaries of the party's secretary general Rosette Thake and CEO Brian St John.