A Land Department employee occupying a sizeable farm in Bidnija that is public property has been suspended on half pay pending the outcome of an investigation following a story in the Times of Malta.

Last Monday, the newspaper revealed that Luke Sant had taken over use of a farmhouse in Bidnija with land spread over 12 tumoli (close to 14,000 square metres).

Investigations initiated by the government following the report have resulted in Mr Sant’s suspension, a spokesman confirmed. Such land in this prime area is worth over €1 million, according to conservative market estimates.

The site is located on a corner lot and the house has five rooms. The property is supplied with water and electricity – factors that increase its value exponentially.

Mr Sant is a technician at the Land Department’s Estate Management Office. He was repeatedly seen on site, making “improvements” to the area with his grandfather, John Mary Vella. The padlock placed on the property by the Lands Department had been replaced, the spokesman said.

He gave assurances that keys to public property were kept in a locked cabinet and access was “very limited”. Keys were only given out against a signature and there was no record of any employee requesting keys, the spokesman added. 

The government said the padlocks of the gate leading to the agricultural land and the farmhouse have now been changed.  

According to the law a tender must be issued before anyone can take over the use of public property; however, in this case no tender was ever issued.

Mr Sant denied any wrongdoing when he was asked for a reaction last week despite being told witnesses saw him as well as several trucks carrying rubble and building material to the site. 

caroline.muscat@timesofmalta.com

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.