Government offers adjacent property to house PL Siggiewi club

The Labour Party will be evicted from its Siġġiewi club by the end of this month but it has been offered a temporary five-year lease on an adjacent property as opposed to the previous one-year offer, The Times has learnt.

Labour deputy leader for party affairs Toni Abela confirmed that the offer had been made but would not give further details.

"The offer will be considered. On Sunday, I will be meeting the Siġġiewi club members and inform them of the latest developments," Dr Abela said when contacted.

Attempts to contact Land Parliamentary Secretary Jason Azzopardi proved futile.

Sources said the latest offer was made after further mediation by Siġġiewi mayor Robert Musumeci, who was the one who had suggested that Labour be offered alternative premises to be able to carry on with its political work in the village.

"I am sure good sense will prevail. My message has always been that the Nationalist Party is not a vindictive party," Mr Musumeci said when contacted. He did not give further details of the proposed agreement.

Last month Dr Azopardi said the government was not going back on its intention not to renew Labour's lease at its current premises. However, the government gave the party some time to discuss an offer made by the Land Commissioner to be able to use, for one year only, the adjacent premises now occupied by the local council.

The commissioner had directed Labour to vacate the building by the end of June but the party later filed a judicial protest claiming the eviction order constituted discrimination.

In the judicial protest, Labour claimed the government's decision not to renew the lease on the property in Siġġiewi's main square was motivated by partisan politics and was mainly instigated by PN councillor and deputy mayor Karol Aquilina. It also pointed out that while the government had terminated the lease because it wanted to transfer the building to the Siġġiewi council to use as a day care centre, the council already had a development permit for a day care centre on a plot of land it had bought for that purpose.

Labour said although the payment of annual rent was refused by the commissioner earlier this year it still deposited the money at the law courts.

The club premises had been transferred to the party after a public tender was issued in the 1980s by a Labour government.

The property, formerly known as Villa Siġġiewi, used to belong to Mabel Strickland, daughter of former Prime Minister Gerald Strickland, leader of the Progressive Constitutional Party and editor of The Times between 1935 and 1950.

It was bought by the government in the 1960s and used as a primary school for several years. In 1969, it became a civic centre used by a number of organisations.

In 1981, Labour submitted an offer to lease part of the property. It was leased on December 11, 1981 - the eve of the general election - for Lm200 (€465) a year.

In 1983, other parts of the building became vacant and the government issued a call for those wishing to lease it. These were then also transferred to Labour.

In 1987, a few months before another general election, the government accepted a party request and extended the lease for 24 years, expiring last June.