I refer to recent court rulings regarding requisitioned property returning to rightful owners and other correspondence in The Times. While I do not intend to enter into the merits of any particular case or pending court procedures in this regard, may I draw the attention of readers to the fact that the Housing Authority is doing what it can to safeguard the interest and well-being of all those involved, that is, the rightful owners and the present tenants.

Some years ago, the then Housing Department, and now also the Housing Authority, started a very complicated process in which requisition orders were removed from private properties. This meant that the Housing Authority had no longer the right to administer such properties.

It is worth mentioning the following data so as readers can have a wider and more constructive picture of the situation. Up to 1995, an estimate of 54,000 private properties were requisitioned during the 46 years from the enactment of the original Housing Act. By 2006, 16,000 requisitioned properties were still on the authority’s database. In 2007, the Housing Authority derequisitioned about 2,700 properties, bringing down the total number of requisitioned properties to 13,300. During 2008, this number was further reduced to 1,286. Up to the present moment, the Housing Authority has only 347 pending cases. It is envisaged that during the coming months, another 100 properties will be derequisitioned.

As regards to these remaining number of properties, may I point out that the Housing Authority’s dilemma is when faced with a situation where on one side there are tenants who have health, age, social, economical vulnerability and with no or very limited practical alternatives to choose from and on the other hand, rightful owners are not willing to recognise the tenants thus risking having these tenants thrown out in the streets. While I am sure that some outside observers to this complicated issue and particular rightful owners may disagree and propose draconian measures, the Housing Authority has to balance itself between the rights of owners and the vulnerability of certain tenants.

While the Housing Authority acknowledges that this issue may be very emotional and to some extent even politicised, the Housing Authority will continue to follow the direction of getting the requisitioned places in Malta down to zero.

If any readers would like further information and clarification on this matter, please do not hesitate to communicate with my office. I am sure that with good will from all those concerned, we can bring this chapter to an end.