The ‘deal’ with Mak Gaffarena over half a property in Old Mint Street in Valletta “could have been done better,” Parliamentary Secretary Michael Falzon admitted for the first time this evening as he reiterated he had done nothing wrong.

Addressing a government public dialogue meeting at Castille one in the series Gvern li Jisma (A Government that Listens), Dr Falzon dedicated his concluding comments to the Gaffarena issue.

“This is all spin and lies,” he said.

Describing the agreement with Mr Gaffarena, uncovered by Times of Malta, as “a deal” like many others already done by the previous administration, Dr Falzon boasted that “the government acquired half a palace of great value which also had a unique wooden ceiling”.

He attacked former Minister Jason Azzopardi for his criticism and said that in his time he had made similar deals such as that regarding a property in Fekruna, Xemxija.

He said that from this experience he was learning about “the envy and hatred” of his political adversaries “even from those who know how I helped them solve their personal problems in the past,” he said.

Referring to an interview with Alfred Martin on Net TV, in which Mr Martin alleged that the government took his land in Bahar Ic-Caghaq to give it to Mr Gaffarena, he accused Mr Martin of lying.

“It was under Dr Azzopardi’s administration that it was decided that Mr Martin should be evicted. He (Mr Martin) did not pay any rent for more than five years and it was not true that he used to live there. He could only use the land for agricultural purposes,” he said.

Dr Falzon said that it was also not true that lawyers from the Land Department had told Mr Martin that the Labour government wanted his land.