Update 2: Owners given €75,000 compensation for requisitioned property
(Adds PN's reaction)
The owners of a property in St Joseph High Road Venera requisitioned by the government and since used as a Labour Party club, have been awarded compensation of €75,000.
The Constitutional Court in a judgement today said the owners' human rights were violated when the property was requisitioned from the Grech family by the government in 1967, which had declared that the property was required as it had been decided to construct a bypass from Hamrun to Marsa.
The project had not materialised as the government decided to iexcavate a tunnel for traffic instead of the bypass.
Consequently there was no need for the demolition of the owners' house or of other houses in the vicinity.
The house remained vacant until 1973 when the government allocated the house to the Labour Party to be used as a political club against an annual rent of Lm45 (104.85 euros). Following proceedings before the Rent Regulation Board the rent was increased to Lm164 (382.12 euros) per annum.
Philip, Frank, Alfred, Gaetano and Christopher Grech, May Mifsud, Angela Hili and Maryanne Gera filed their constitutional application before Mr Justice Raymond C Pace in the First Hall of the Civil Court against the Director of Social Accommodation and against the Labour Party Club of Santa Venera.
PN'S REACTION
In a statement, the Nationalist Party said that because of the Labour Party's irresponsible behaviour in retaining property owned by private citizens to be used as party clubs, the Maltese now had to fork out €75,000 from their taxes.
This, the PN said, was not the only property the Labour Party had taken from private citizens to use as clubs. The party never apologised for its actions.
The Labour Party's behaviour was unacceptable, irresponsible and not deserving of a political party which supposedly believed in respecting the people's right to enjoy their property.
The PN said it was waiting for the Labour leader's decision to see whether the PL would persist in its mistake or return the St Venera Club to the people it belonged to once the rental period expired in June
Popular Stories
Update 3: Woman found dead in car,...
Updated: Woman dies in car crash
Carm Mifsud Bonnici resigns after...
Part of Dwejra 'Azure window' collapses
The end of the bar that ‘never closed’
Bundy does not know whether to...
Updated - Jason Micallef demands...
This WAS the night - Kurt makes it...
Petrol price up 6c
In Discussion
Updated - Jason Micallef demands...
Gozo tunnel could take 5-7 years to...
CABS remote controlled aircraft shot...
Carm Mifsud Bonnici resigns after...
Joseph Calleja condemns portrayal of...
Updated: Labour would give...
CABS drone shot down
Second group of migrants arrives
Adrian Vassallo in scathing...
17 Comments
Post comment
Please sign in or create your Account to post comments.
E Gatt
Nov 27th 2009, 10:18
@Joe Cassar
I do not know the facts about the PN club in Paola. If it was requisitioned and given to PN, then I agree that what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander and should be returned to the rightful owners. If this is the case then it would be very out of character for PN, a party that genuinely believes that individuals’ property rights should be protected.
@ Claire Bonello
PN can be criticised for the slow rental reform, but then the sound principals of restoring landlord’s rights faced an uphill battle against socialist ingrained ideas.
Martin Busuttil
Nov 27th 2009, 07:54
@ E Gatt.
You metioned the Siggiewi Club. What about the Paola club that we the citizens of the locality and the surrounding areas need as a public pharmacy, and which I don't know for how many year have been used as a PN club, What is the Gonzi PN going to do?
Oh, I forgot, they said that there is not enough space for the waiting area. That is good, and we let the elderly people and who ever needs to get the medicines from the public pharmacy waiting out side in the sun or rain and cold.
THIS IS A CASE IN POINT. A LOT OF BLA BLA BLA.......
SORRY BUT THIS IS IN MALTESE - JEKK IL-GEMEL JARA JOTOBTU, JAQA' U JMUT ZOPPTU, OR - KULL MIN IXOMM TAHT IDEJH GHANDU XI JXOMM HABIEB.
Ghatu intom lil poplu dak li haqqu, hallu tkunu ta' ezempju.
Joe Cassar
Nov 27th 2009, 01:43
So how much compensation should the PN pay to the Maltese people for occupying a large and imposing building - Gov owned - on Paola's main square for many, many years?
Or is tyhe sauce for the goose no longer sauce for the gander?
Claire Bonello
Nov 26th 2009, 23:33
@ ANtoine Vella - The property was not requisitioned in the public interest- as no use was made of it for several years immediately after requisition, paving the way for the injustice to be perpetuated by the MLP and the PN who has not passed any legislation to improve the owners' lot for over 30 odd years.
Claire Bonello
Nov 26th 2009, 20:55
@ E Gatt. The property was requisitioned in 1967. It was given to the MLP in 1973. Since 1987 to the present date - and despite the recent amendments to the rent laws, the Nationalist government has (and still continues) to refuse to legislate to let justice be done to the owners of clubs which are leased out. This is an injustice perpetuated by both the PN and the PL.
Antoine Vella
Nov 26th 2009, 20:48
Claire Bonello,
"..... a case of injustice being perpetuated by both the PN and PL."
Your sense of proportion is non-existent. A PN government requisitioned the property as it was needed for a public good: improving the infrastructure. In these cases, compensation takes a long time to be given (mainly for bureaucratic, not political reasons) which is, of course, unfair towards the owners but there is no comparison to what the MLP did.
For almost 40 years they used the property for purely selfish partisan reasons. Shamelessly. This case is emblematic of all that was/is wrong with Labour and it speaks volumes about your political insight, such as it is, that you still cannot distinguish between PN and MLP.
Franco Farrugia
Nov 26th 2009, 19:49
This is disgusting. And this is a Party that boasts of being the Workers' Party.
If i were the PL Leader, I would offer an apology and also do my best to pay the money from the Party's coffers!!!
All this shows how much the taxpayers are being made victims of the political parties that are running the country.
How shameful!
'Ahleb, Guz!'
E Gatt
Nov 26th 2009, 18:57
True the property was requisitioned by a PN government to be used for public use. The 1967 government planned a road that passed through the property and therefore had to requisition the property. I do not know the full facts but if the owners were not compensated for their loss then the government was wrong.
The Socialists then came to power in 1971 and soon after took the property for their own partisan use as a MLP club. They have had enough time to give the property back to the rightful owners but they did not. The Socialist’s manoeuvres earlier this year to cling onto the Siggiewi Club is proof that a change in name, does not change their attitude.
c. camilleri
Nov 26th 2009, 17:41
@ carmel scerri. The property was requisitioned by the Govt in 1967 to construct a bypass from Hamrun to Marsa and not to be used as political club. The residence was taken over by the Labour Party in 1974 when it should have been returned to the owner as the project did not materialised .
Claire Bonello
Nov 26th 2009, 16:56
@ E Gatt. I can confirm that the property was requisitioned by a Nationalist Government and was left vacant for more than 5 years. If anything, this is a case of injustice being perpetuated by both the PN and PL.
c. camilleri
Nov 26th 2009, 16:22
Good news and bad news as many questions remain to be answered. Who is going to pay the compensation? Is the compensation awarded for rent lost or for violation of human rights.In either case who is going to fork out the money the Labour Party or John citizen? And what about the future? Is the property to return to its legal owner now or in the near future?
The abuses of past Labour Govts will continue to reverberate for a very long time. The damage and suffering caused to so many people will take a very long time to heal.
Ron Saliba
Nov 26th 2009, 16:17
1960s!!! about time!
Carmel Xerri
Nov 26th 2009, 16:03
@ E. Gatt You may wish to note that the property was requistioned by the Nationalist Goverment. "The Constitutional Court in a judgement today said the owners' human rights were violated when the property was requisitioned from the Grech family by the government in the 1960s." Who should pay when the Court is saying that the violation took place in 1960.
Galea. L
Nov 26th 2009, 16:00
E Gatt
The PN should hand over the money because it was a PN government that had requisitioned the property.
s schembri
Nov 26th 2009, 15:36
Will the Director of Social Housing be taking the property back from the PL now that the Director of Social Housing i.e. us tax payers will be paying €75,000 for it?
Joe Cassar
Nov 26th 2009, 15:18
"requisitioned from the Grech family by the government in the 1960s."
"The property went unused for six years".
Seems a very complicate story.
Why was it requisitioned For whom was it intended? Why was it left unused for six years?
Maybe the court should have asked those questions.
E Gatt
Nov 26th 2009, 14:29
Good for the owners!
Now how about Dr Joseph Muscat handing over the €75,000 to the Housing Authority (the taxpayers) from the annual televised Super 1 TV fund raising campaigns.