The Joint Office is still unable to establish who has legal title to the Marsaxlokk property occupied by the widow of Simshar victim Noel Carabott, as the story took another twist yesterday.

Just hours after the Parliamentary Secretariat for Land last Friday issued a statement saying the in-laws who wanted to evict Stephania Carabott had no legal title, her sister-in-law, Suzanne Buttigieg, came forward saying there had been a mistake.

The Commissioner of Land is now inviting the in-laws to a meeting tomorrow so that they can present legal evidence in a bid to clarify the confusion that arose after the court gave Ms Carabott four months to leave the house she has lived in for 10 years.

The Government's Property Division says its research showed Ms Carabott's in-laws had no right to the property and the Joint Office had stopped accepting the money due for the agricultural lease from the family back in August 2007.

It also established that last July - when the Simshar fishing boat tragedy occurred - the Joint Office turned down a request by the family notary to recognise Ms Buttigieg as the farmer of the land.

However, Ms Buttigieg yesterday insisted the government was confusing the property leased by her uncle, Benedict Carabott, with that leased by her father, Joseph Carabott, and aunt, Dolores. She showed The Sunday Times papers showing that her uncle had left her as sole heir of the property in Ħal Ġinwi - owned by the Joint Office - when he died in March 2008.

"Our notary made the request for that land, and not the property where Stephania is living. Through its statement, the secretariat made it seem like I'm forcing Stephania out of her house, when it's not the case," she stressed.

Ms Buttigieg, who resides in Marsascala, said she had lived with her uncle since she was young, which was why he made her the sole heir in his will. However, since she was not his daughter, the authorities established she had no legal title, and the case was closed.

"There is a serious mix-up here and I want to remove any doubts from people's minds," she added.

However, sources said the case was not so clear cut since the Joint Office was dealing with 15,000 square metres of land. Some of the lease titles that the Holy See transferred to the State in 1991 went back more than 150 years, which made it more difficult to establish title.

"It can result that the property Stephania is being evicted from actually touches the land owned by Benedict Carabott, which the Joint Office owns and will be recovering; there could be two tenements under one heading," the sources said.

"Establishing proof of title is a laborious task. On the map, you see the two properties as one thing in an area called Ħal Ġinwi, but when you physically visit the place, things look different.

"However, by (tomorrow) it should be established who exactly has legal title to the property where Stephania lives," the sources added.

In the meantime, Mrs Carabott, who was hoping for some good news after losing her 33-year-old husband when the Simshar sank last July, and being evicted from her family home, remains despondent as the uncertainty reigns.