Police interview Pullicino Orlando

Under new pressure following the publication of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority's audit report on the Mistra case, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando yesterday declined to answer direct questions on the matter, insisting on his innocence and saying he will speak out after the police conclude their investigations.

"While I am fully aware of the fact that the case is being closely followed by the media and subjected to public reaction, even amid much speculation and misinterpretation by those who may or may not have any particular agenda in my regard, I would wish not to make any public declaration that can in any way be seen or interpreted as attempting to influence, digress or hamper these investigations," Dr Pullicino Orlando said when asked whether he would be resigning his post as MP, in the wake of the damning findings of the Mepa audit report.

Dr Pullicino Orlando was elected from two electoral districts at the March 8 general election which he contested on behalf of the Nationalist Party.

The report, released on Monday evening by the Prime Minister - who had asked for the inquiry in the first place - is severely critical of the process that led to the approval of an outline development permit for a discotheque on ecologically-sensitive land in Mistra, which belongs to Dr Pullicino Orlando.

With decisions such as this one, "accusations of corruption are inevitable and difficult to refute", Mepa audit officer Joe Falzon said towards the end of the report.

The findings, however, also come in the wake of revelations by The Sunday Times that members of the Development Control Commission (DCC) that approved the permit - the same one which recently resigned en bloc after being censured in another audit report for issuing the Lidl supermarket permit on a massive tract of land outside development zones in Safi - and government officials had received telephone calls and messages from Dr Pullicino Orlando before the permit was issued.

When asked by The Times whether he would resign his post as MP in the wake of these facts, Dr Pullicino Orlando preferred not to comment, adding that he would be "fully prepared to reply to all... questions" and to give his version of events both in connection with the public declarations he had made before the election and the developments that ensue as soon as police investigations are over and a decision is taken on the basis of their outcome.

He confirmed he had been interviewed at length by the Police Commissioner this Sunday, adding that he had written to him and to the audit officer, offering his full cooperation.

When contacted, the Office of the Prime Minister indicated that Lawrence Gonzi would await the outcome of the police investigations, saying "there is nothing to add at this stage..."

It did point out, however, that "the election of a member of Parliament is determined by the electorate and not by the Prime Minister". The government, a spokesman pointed out, was committed to overhaul the beleaguered Mepa in a bid to make it more transparent and less inconsistent in its decisions.

Neither would the direct protagonists of this case, the former DCC board members, answer questions about the audit report.

The former chairman, architect Phillip Azzopardi, Anthony Mifsud, who is a director at the Department of Agriculture, and Carmel Portelli, a retired architect, all said they had no comment to make. Architect Christopher Spiteri could not be reached. One board member had actually voted against the development, even if two people are claiming to be that one member now: Architect Mark Azzopardi and Charles Calleja, a retired architect.

Mr Azzopardi said when contacted that he had voted against, adding that he disagreed that the touristic elements of this application should take precedence over environmental ones. Mr Calleja sent a letter to The Times pointing out that the permit had not been approved unanimously, insisting he was the board member who gave the project the thumbs down (see page 9).

When faced with this declaration by Mr Calleja, Mr Azzopardi insisted on his position, saying he had no idea how Mr Calleja had voted but that he was sure he had voted against the project. Attempts to contact Mr Calleja were unsuccessful.

There probably is no way of knowing because no record is kept of how board members vote unless expressly requested by some member, which was not the case with this permit, Mepa sources told The Times.

Lawyer Franco Vassallo, contacted The Times yesterday to specify that his client Ian Sultana had in fact not leased the Mista property from Dominic Micallef to whom Dr Pullicino Orlando had rented the land in question. Mr Sultana had merely filled the development aplication on behalf of Mr Micallef, Dr Vassallo said.