Updated 19 September 9pm - Added Mr Buttigieg statement
Planning Authority chairman Johann Buttigieg did not inform his direct superior that he had a potential conflict of interest when, as a case officer in 2011, he was assigned to review the National Aquarium’s permit application.
His boss at the time has revealed that Mr Buttigieg did not disclose that the application involved Adrian Buttigieg, who is his friend, godfather to one of his children and his wife’s business partner. Adrian Buttigieg is a director of the company behind the aquarium.
As case officer, Johann Buttigieg recommended that the board of the then Malta Environment and Planning Authority should issue a permit for the aquarium.
This newspaper questioned Michelle Piccinino, his direct superior at the time of the aquarium application, after the PA chairman said he had “always declared any conflict of interest”.
He had been answering questions on another potential conflict of interest exposed by this newspaper. Reservation forms showed he stayed at the Royal Garden Hotel in London in 2014 – when he was Mepa CEO – under a booking made by Adrian Buttigieg, whose Mellieħa hotel was granted a two-storey extension by Mepa last November.
The Sunday Times of Malta asked Ms Piccinino whether she had been aware of the close relationship between the two men when the case officer appointment was made for the aquarium project.
Since she is now a board member of the Environment and Resources Authority, the authority replied:
“Perit Piccinino had not been informed of any possible conflict of interest in relation to this case while in her position as direct superior of the then Mepa case officer Johann Buttigieg.”
The other partner in the aquarium project, Salvu Ellul, is one of the main operators of fish farms in the Marsaxlokk area.
On Mr Buttigieg’s watch, the cages of Malta Fish Farming Ltd have grown to four times the permitted number. This was revealed by this newspaper last July after the PA remained silent on the number of cages operated by the company.
Contacted yesterday, Mr Buttigieg insisted he had always declared any conflicts of interest in decisions which concerned Adrian Buttigieg or any of his interests.
In previous replies on the Mellieħa hotel permit, he stressed that it was in line with planning policies.
He also said his friendship with the hotelier went back more than 10 years and predated his appointment as Mepa CEO.
'Half truths and fictitious allegations'
In a rebuttal issued late on Monday evening, Mr Buttigieg said that claims that he harboured a conflict of interest were inaccurate and unfounded.
"At the time of my involvement in the Acquarium project application, Adrian Buttigieg was not a shareholder and therefore did not stand to benefit directly from the project as evidenced in public records filed with MFSA," the PA executive chairman said.
Mr Buttigieg said that he would be instituting libel proceedings to defend his reputation.
Key facts
• Marine Aquatics (National Aquarium, St Paul’s Bay) was set up in May 2011.The directors are Adrian Buttigieg (La Salita and Maritim Antonine hotels) and Salvu Ellul (Elbros, Ebcon, Malta Fish Farming Ltd).
• The Planning application for the aquarium was registered in July 2011.
• The Planning Authority case officer was Johann Buttigieg (former CEO of Mepa and now executive chairman of the PA).
• Johann Buttigieg’s wife, Lorraine Buttigieg, was already a shareholder in MBB Ltd, which was set up in March 2004. The company director is Adrian Buttigieg.
• Michelle Piccinino, who was Johann Buttigieg’s direct superior at the time, declared she had not been informed of this conflict of interest when he was case officer on the aquarium project submitted by Adrian Buttigieg.
• The other partner in the aquarium project, Salvu Ellul, is one of the main operators of fish farms whose cages grew to four times the permitted number on Mr Buttigieg’s watch.