MP insists in court Marsascala council wasted public funds

Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando yesterday insisted that the Marsascala local council had wasted hundreds of liri when it appointed consultants to report on the impact of the proposed changes to the Sant'Antnin recycling plant but then failed to use its conclusions during meetings with the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

"I insist that it's a shame to spend public funds on consultancy, then you don't use the conclusions of that consultant during meetings with Mepa just because the conclusion is not the one you would have wanted to hear," Dr Pullicino Orlando said.

He added that the public had a right to know that consultants had concluded that the proposed changes to the plant were beneficial to the area of Marsascala.

He was testifying before Magistrate Michael Mallia during a libel case initiated against him by former Marsascala mayor Charlot Mifsud. In the suit, the mayor claimed that Dr Pullicino Orlando libelled him when he said he (the mayor) had spent thousands of liri in public funds on consultancy fees.

Dr Pullicino Orlando explained he had spoken during a public debate during which he felt intimidated by the "hostile crowd" that brought back memories of the political situation in the 1980s.

When members of the crowd started firing allegations against the Prime Minister, claiming he had moved from Marsascala to Naxxar because he was worried with the repercussions of the plant's modernisation, Dr Pullicino Orlando felt he had to make his voice heard. He felt he had to let the crowd know that their claims were based on fabrications.

He felt the Marsascala residents and the rest of the country deserved to know that the planned changes to the recycling plant would improve the situation in the area.

He admitted that during the meeting he said the Marsascala local council was wasting money and still believed that. He also admitted he had been mistaken in saying that thousands of liri were being wasted, when he meant hundreds of liri. The amount of money wasted was irrelevant. Even if it were only one lira, he said, it was still money that came from the public that was being thrown to waste and this was a shame.

Dr Pullicino Orlando added that, during his address at the meeting he had mistakenly referred to the Birzebbuga mayor when he really meant to refer to the Marsascala mayor and added that the Birzebbuga mayor had not initiated any court proceedings against him.

Lawyer Owen Bonnici signed the writ filed by Mr Mifsud.

Lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Kris Busietta appeared for Dr Pullicino Orlando.