NGOs Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA), Friends of the Earth (FoE), Ramblers Association, and KoPIN categorically condemned the Marsascala mayor’s request to Sadeen Education Investments​ to construct new council premises in return for the council’s blessing to develop Żonqor point. 

Mayor Mario Calleja announced the deal during a council meeting last week.

The NGOs said that this, in their opinion, amounted to bribery making the mayor’s integrity highly questionable.

“He requested a favour which he later publicly announced in the press, to enrich his locality.

“The fact that last January the Marsascala council had asked the government to ensure that the open space at Żonqor Point remained protected and unbuilt for the enjoyment of the public, only to reverse its stand a few months later, speaks volumes.

“The ODZ land in question belongs neither to the mayor personally, nor to his locality, but to the Maltese nation as a whole. To even contemplate accepting, let alone asking for such a bribe goes against fundamental morality and cannot be justified by any stretch of the imagination,” the NGOs said.

Mr Calleja’s statement that he would “take what he could” from the deal with Sadeen was reminiscent of calls to “make hay while the sun shines”, the NGOs said.

“The acceptance of what can be considered a direct bribe to a local authority corrupts moral principles, weakens the fabric of civil society as a whole, and has to be opposed in strongest terms.

“The eNGOs expect the Prime Minister to come down heavily on such corrupt practices,” they said.