(Adds Mr Mugliett's comment)

Jesmond Mugliett remained silent when a parliamentary committee discussed the extension of a car park lease that included a clause he later objected to.

At no point during the parliamentary sitting did Jesmond Mugliett speak out or voice his concern

Mr Mugliett yesterday confirmed that during the debate he did not object to the clause that set the price for 100 parking places the Government will rent from the car park operator.

Yet the former transport minister cited the €3.2 million price tag as the reason for his resignation from the House Audit Committee. The committee scrutinises motions for the transfer of Government property.

Mr Mugliett’s expressed disagreement and eventual resignation were only made public yesterday, catching many people by surprise.

When contacted Mr Mugliett justified his silence during the debate, adding that he walked out of the committee in protest because the evaluation presented by Land Minister Jason Azzopardi was not serious.

“The explanation as to how the Government reached the evaluation was simplistic and this issue had already cropped up in the past when the committee discussed the transfer of buildings to telecoms company Go,” Mr Mugliett said.

He added that before walking out he handed a letter of resignation to committee chairman Tonio Borg, the deputy prime minister, without giving reasons why. The resignation became official on Friday when Mr Mugliett handed it to the Clerk of the House as per proper procedure.

The extension of the lease to the operators of MCP car park in Floriana was eventually approved unanimously by the committee members, including the Opposition MPs, in Mr Mugliett’s absence.

The lease extension is tied to a commitment by the private operators to create 400 new parking spaces and roof over the car park to create a public garden on top. It also includes a provision for the renting out of 100 parking places by the Government for €3.2 million for the duration of the 94-year lease.

Mr Mugliett said he agreed with the extension of the lease but not the price the Government had to pay for the parking slots.

The debate happened on Wednesday last week and an audio recording of the sitting on Parliament’s website shows that at no point did Mr Mugliett speak out or voice his concern.

Dr Borg and Labour economy spokesman Charles Mangion, who is a member, confirmed that Mr Mugliett did not speak.

The only questions about the price tag for the parking slots were raised by Nationalist MP Philip Mifsud, a member, and Dr Mangion, who asked about the evaluation process.

Dr Mangion said the Labour parliamentary group’s biggest objection was a clause that would have prevented the government from giving land for other car parks in the area for 10 years. This was eventually removed in final draft.

Asked about the evaluation given by the Government, Dr Mangion said the arrangement was favourable to the developer but the Labour parliamentary group took into consideration calls made by the Valletta commercial community to increase the availability of parking spaces.

Attempts to contact Dr Azzopardi yesterday proved futile and an e-mail with questions remained unanswered by the time of going to print.

The hole in the middle of the MCP car park in Floriana will be built up and roofed over in a project costing €5 million. The project is expected to be completed within 18 months of receiving a planning permit.

According to the explanation given in the committee, the Government will rent out 100 parking places for the duration of the lease. But the payment will be made in quarterly instalments over the first 10 years after the project is completed.

This means the Government will be forking out €320,000 every year for the first 10 years, covering more than half the minimum investment the company is contractually bound to make.

Dr Azzopardi told committee members that the going rate for a parking spot at MCP was €600. With the agreement, the Government will pay around €345 per spot, saving €2.4 million at current rates over the 94-year lease.

Mugliett denies 'misleading by silence'

But Mr Mugliett told timesofmalta.com today that he was surprised by the twist given to 'The Times' article, wherein he was accused of misleading by silence.

"If I recall correctly no journalist was present during the committee meeting and it was only my resignation from this committee which brought the matter to public opinion.

"No journalist sought to probe this deal prior to my stand – yet ironically it is myself who is being accused of misleading by silence."

Mr Mugliett said that during the meeting, he had signified his intention to speak, but the chairman was going round the various members taking their questions one member at a time, and giving the minister the opportunity to reply to each member immediately after the member's questions were made.

"My turn would have been one of the last. As already stated I submitted my resignation letter to the chairman immediately on hearing the minister's explanation of the valuation when replying to one of the members.

"I left, rather than questioning the calculation process since I knew that a satisfactory answer to further questions would not be forthcoming."

Mr Mugliett said that the calculation of a leasehold over a definite period could be arrived at by a discounted cash flow calculation. This was not a simple calculation, where the critical factor was the discount rate used and would need a thorough examination and discussion.

Members of the committee should have been treated with better respect and given the valuation calculations and explanation beforehand, rather than having to make rudimentary questions at the only opportunity available.

"The article accuses me of misleading but fails to say who: the NAO Committee, the House of Representatitves or the public?

"This is an unfortunate fostering of a culture that MP's on the government side should toe faithfully the party line and shy away from taking objective stands which are in the public interest.

"Otherwise they are called disgruntled, disloyal or dissenters. Rather than trying to paint me in a negative light, the journalist would have done a better job by probing the pertinent questions, such as why was the acquisition of the car parking spaces was not mentioned in the ministerial press conference announcing the deal with MCP Ltd, what are the 100 car parking spaces needed for, why is the government buying this number of spaces when it is building another car park near the Independence Arena

"The journalist's biggest failure is that he did not even attempt to probe the most pertinent question for which I put my head on the block, and to which the public is eager to have a reply– is the price being paid for the 100 spaces fair and reasonable?"

ksansone@timesofmalta.com