The government yesterday denied any illegality in the way public land changed hands in Siġġiewi, saying the procedure followed had been standard practice for more than a decade.
However, both the government and the Gozitan family involved in the swap failed to explain the role of the Land Department in the identification of the land to be exchanged.
The story first appeared in The Sunday Times of Malta, which reported that a farmer had raised questions over what she suspected was wheeling and dealing by the department over the field that the same family had tilled for over a century in Siġġiewi.
On January 6, Mario and Victoria Xerri, a couple from Xagħra, Gozo, signed a contract with the department by which the two tumoli of agricultural land in Siġġiewi were transferred to them in exchange for two other small pieces of land that had been expropriated from them in 1992.
On the same day, the Gozitan couple sold the field they had just acquired from the government to a company owned by Carmelo Farrugia for €31,000, under a separate contract.
Mr Farrugia, a building contractor, owns a villa in Siġġiewi which abuts the field.
The Land Department was asked to state if it had any role in the identification of the field and the arrangements involved for it to be sold to a building contractor whose villa happened to lie adjacent.
In reply, Parliamentary Secretary Michael Falzon, who is responsible for the Land Department, said the deal had been endorsed by the Director General of the Government Property Division and the former Commissioner of Land.
It is too much of a coincidence that ‘our’ field was exchanged and ended up as part of the property of our neighbour within a few hours
A spokesman for Dr Falzon said it was the Xerri family who had sent a letter to the department suggesting that this particular piece of public land be given to him in compensation for the land expropriated from him 23 years earlier.
When contacted, Mr Xerri did not want to comment on whether this was true.
Asked to state how he had identified that particular field, Mr Xerri said: “Ask the Land Department. For me this is a private matter and I did nothing wrong.”
Pressed to state whether it was some official at the department who had suggested this option to him in order to obtain the compensation he deserved, Mr Xerri refused to comment.
According to the Disposal of Government Land Act, public land can only be transferred to third parties through a public tender or a parliamentary resolution. However, the law makes an exception for land exchange in compensation for other land expropriated for a public purpose.
Dr Falzon said it was not true that Tania Micallef’s family had tilled the land for more than a century, but only since 1996.
Reiterating that it was the Gozitan family that had suggested the exchange of this specific field, he said that a valuation of both the expropriated land and the land requested had been prepared by qualified architects.
“The value of the expropriated land, including interest, was established at €29,474, while the value of the field in Siġġiewi was established at €31,000. This exchange is within the parameters of Clause 13 (article 3) of Chapter 268. The owners of the expropriated land had to pay €1,526, this being the difference between the value of the expropriated land and the land given in exchange.”
Acknowledging that the land in question was public land, the farmers argued that the department should have issued a public call for tenders and was obliged to offer them the right of first refusal.
“It is too much of a coincidence that ‘our’ field was exchanged and ended up as part of the property of our neighbour within a few hours. It seems this was quite a tailor-made deal,” the family claimed.