Naxxar Lions FC defeats eviction from club house

The owners of a large property currently rented out to the Naxxar Lions FC have lost an attempt to get the club evicted after claiming that the building had been damaged by unauthorised structural works.

The owners, Lilian Martinelli, Vincent Santucci and Carmelina Pisani, had filed an application to the rent regulation board in 2002 saying the property at the time was being rented out to the club for some €70 a year.

However, the club had carried out a number of structural changes to the property, causing damage. On the basis of this, they asked the board to order the club’s immediate eviction.

The owners also said a number of walls had been built, some removed and all this had contributed to the property losing its features as an old house.

In their reply, club president Michael Zammit Tabona and secretary Daniel Sullivan said the club would suffer unnecessary hardship if they were evicted since they had been located in the same place since 1943. Furthermore, the case was frivolous, they claimed.

In a judgment handed down yesterday, Magistrate Giovanni Grixti, presiding over the rent regulation board, said Ms Martinelli in her testimony had claimed she had never given her consent for the works to be carried out and had never noticed works going on despite the fact that she used to drive past the building regularly.

On the other hand the club committee members testified that they had expressly asked for her permission before carrying out any of the works.

The magistrate added that Ms Martinelli’s testimony did not make sense because if she did drive past the building often, she would have noticed changes to fixtures such as the windows from wood to aluminium.

The magistrate dismissed the owners’ request for the property to be vacated.

Lawyer Mark Busuttil appeared for the club committee while lawyer Toni Abela appeared for the owners.