Sant accused of misleading people
A plan of the proposed development in Mistra.
Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando again declared that he had nothing to do with the proposed building of a disco in Mistra Valley and said the contract which opposition leader Alfred Sant had referred to in his speech on Monday proved it. Indeed, he had been the one to hand a copy of the contract to the Police Commissioner before the election.
Speaking in Parliament yesterday during the debate in reply to the President's speech at the state opening of Parliament, he deplored the fact that Dr Sant had referred to the subject on Monday when a police investigation was still ongoing. This reflected a lack of respect for the investigation.
He accused Dr Sant of still misleading the people for reasons best known to himself or others who may have any particular interest in the case, commercial or otherwise.
He reiterated that once police investigations were completed, he would be able to show how his actions and those of the Nationalist Party before the general election had been correct.
Dr Pullicino Orlando said the plans for the disco, which were publicly accessible, showed that this was to have been able to take a maximum of 500 people and not 4,000 and then 8,000, as claimed by Dr Sant. He tabled the plans of the proposed disco as approved by Mepa, saying that of the club area of 740 square metres, just over half would have been a landscaped area with indigenous trees. Much of the remaining site would have been a paved area with a small area not higher than two metres.
Dr Pullicino Orlando said he was tabling these plans not because he had any part in the project, but to show how Dr Sant had been giving misleading information.
He also tabled an article published in The Times on March 1, wherein he explained that he knew of the project but not its details, because that involved only the developer.
Dr Pullicino Orlando denied that he had ever said he did not know to whom he had leased the Mistra site. What he had not known was who had submitted the development application on behalf of the lessee.
The lessee had later explained to him that he had asked somebody else to submit the application because he feared that if a particular influential person involved in the same business came to know, he would try to obstruct it, as he had done in the past. Indeed, one had to assume that the same had happened with the help of the MLP, Dr Pullicino Orlando said.
Despite the enormous pressure being brought on him by the Labour spin, he would hold back comment until the conclusion of the police investigation. When that happened he would be able to show how correct he and the Nationalist Party had been in their actions and declarations before the general election, he added. Everybody would then be able to judge who had been misleading the public. Those who had launched this strategy against him would need to give a different interpretation of what they called "The Mistra Scandal".
Earlier, Dr Pullicino Orlando referred to women's participation in the workplace. He said it was very difficult for certain women to work because of school times and school holidays, which were too long, and suggested adjustments to the educational system.
Dr Pullicino Orlando said he agreed with the government's plans to propose legislation that would protect those in cohabiting relationships.
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Joe Vella
May 15th 2008, 22:29
@ maria Dolores Fenech
Please... Can you tell me and all the other readers, what is in jPO speech in parliament that he had not said previously outside of parliaments. And no, I am not defending JPO, I think he is more capable of doing that on his part. yes, I also believe that if it proven guilty of any thing, he should pay like anyone else.
Alfred Grima
May 15th 2008, 20:37
Can Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pulicino Orlando confirm or deny if any olive trees and palm trees were remove recently from the site in question?
Maria Dolores Fenech
May 15th 2008, 16:54
JPO is accusing Dr Sant of misleading people. I ask, was the Mepa Audit Officer also misleading people when he wrote the report about the Mistra case? Why is JPO telling us all this in Parliament? Is it because he can not say the truth as much as he can while no-one can file a libel against him?
Maria Dolores Fenech
May 15th 2008, 15:34
The children welcome holidays, they have more than enough pressure because of exams. As it is they don't even have enough time to play (with all these holidays!). Please do not burden children with parent's problems.
Why is JPO continuing to add insult to injury by saying that he had nothing to do with this development? This is not the case because
1)he stands to gain thousands of Euros as rent; and
2) When the rent expires, he becomes the owner of both the land and the said disco.
As a green politician, he should have objected to any develpment on a Natura 2000 site and not signed the contract, and so giving his approval, knowing well the impact on this area (noise and air polution - to mention a couple).
tony caruana
May 15th 2008, 15:04
Sure Mr. Pullicino we believe you. Really we do :)
Adrian Cardona
May 15th 2008, 13:35
All this talk about the Mistra development should be irrelevant now since JPO had publicly declared that he had told the developer to withdraw the application....right JPO?......or has something changed again now that the election has been won?
saviour cachia
May 15th 2008, 13:12
Dr Pullicino Orlando said he agreed with the government's plans to propose legislation that would protect those in cohabiting relationships.
Full marks JPO. It is a reform that should be done beyond any political interest, by government and opposition jointly.
Yet, excuse me JPO, even where projects on Natura 2000 are concerned, government and opposition should too be faithful to the voters and say definitely no.
I am not arguing whether a criminal act took place or not. That is not for me to judge. But certainly it was and still is a big political blunder on the Gonzipn part not to declare that matters in the mistra village project stinks. Come on, Dr. Gonzi , Forget Dr. Alfred Sant and do your duty....
And even if it is a bit wayward from the subject being referred to, may i take the liberty and ask the leaders and temporary leader of the parties in parliament whether is it possible that a full list of members belonging to their parties can be available to the public in general? Does the data protection act, means simple: sorry you are out of bounds!!!??? Cannot such a registered be shown on the respective PN and MLP websites? Or perhaps any other parties in the fry to gain seats in the House of Representatives?
In a matter of time, the people of malta and gozo will be financing the political parties through their taxes..so why should we be denied such an accessibility. All we need is: transparency and accountability. That's how a new generation could be built to have full trust in the political class.
C Borg
May 15th 2008, 11:54
Of course this is a development outside the ODZ but who cares! It is dirty politics in play again, and this time the game is the so called Forgetful Game, it runs like this. The facts are there black on white, the person involved keeps saying things to the contrary, and the next thing we know is that this case is forgotten, shelved and archived. The PN is full of wise men and women expert at devising such schemes, just look back in the recent past and you will find plenty of evidence to this. Oops almost forgot.,,, the next step would be, to disract the citizens from the real hard facts to frivolous issues involving the opposing parties.
Moreover, people of a lesser God, don't forget that the parliament is in balance and JPO can tip it easily, the GonziPN needs him at all costs (Ref: PN General Conference May 2008).
Adrian Cachia
May 15th 2008, 11:19
To Brian Ferrante :
I totally agree with you!
Wasn't Pullicino Orlando the saviour of our Maltese Enviroment on the PN Side?
How come he is not going against the MEPA Decision this time??
450-500-8000 .....we just don't care.....the application shouldn't have been even considered..!!!
Spin Valley......is turning into an attempt to Spin the Maltese People!
Brian Ferrante
May 15th 2008, 10:52
Wasn't the disco planned on a Natura 2000 site on which no development should have been made?
Does the fact that JPO did not know the applicant have any bearing on the fact that (according to MEPA officials) JPO himself reportedly put pressure on them to approve the development?
At the end of the day, did JPO have anything to gain from this development which had been opposed by the Agriculture Department and other entities?
Who is misleading whom?
Adrian Cachia
May 15th 2008, 10:26
Still looks like a disco on a Natura 2000 site to me.
Andreas Reiff
May 15th 2008, 10:17
Never mind the outcome of this case. What makes me wonder about the setup of Pullicino's mind is the fact, that for him schools are not educational, but child-caring institutions. Why not then open schools from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and 12 months a year, so that the women can go to work?! In my opinion, the fact that children nowadays are not educated by their mothers and fathers anymore, but by their grand-parents and other care-taking institutions, is the main reason for the failing of society. What children need is a proper family, and not money to spend!