After a year of political bickering, the Labour Party moved out of its Siġġiewi clubhouse on Tuesday, making way for the council to turn the historic building into its offices and a day care centre for the elderly.
The PL club is now situated in an adjacent building, which formerly housed the council offices.
Land Parliamentary Secretary Jason Azzopardi said the PL had asked to be given another building for a five-year period, giving it time to make alternative arrangements when the government signalled its intention of not renewing the clubhouse’s lease.
He confirmed the request was conveyed to the government through Nationalist Party mayor Robert Musumeci, who acted as intermediary in the affair.
“The Labour Party was given the premises occupied by the Siġġiewi council on an encroachment basis for five years and they will be paying about €700 a year for the first three years and about €1,000 for the last two years,” Dr Azzopardi said when asked about the temporary arrangement.
He said that, for its old clubhouse, the PL used to pay an annual rent of just under €1,500. The Siġġiewi council is expected to pay a yearly rent of €3,000 for the new premises.
Addressing the media outside the historical building, which at one point belonged to the Strickland family, in Siġġiewi’s main square alongside deputy mayor Karol Aquilina, Dr Azzopardi said the concession given to the PL proved the government’s actions were not politically motivated.
Mr Musumeci was away on business and could not be present yesterday.
“The government was guided by three principles. It always wanted to retain the high moral ground, allow reason to prevail and act in the community’s interest,” Dr Azzopardi said, insisting it was “assertive and not aggressive” in its approach.
The Siġġiewi council will be turning the former clubhouse into an administrative centre with offices accessible to disabled people. It also wants to set up within the building a day care centre for the elderly and, according to Dr Aquilina, a planning application to this effect will be submitted shortly.
Dr Aquilina, who spearheaded the drive for the council to take this historic property into its hands, said an application by the Housing Authority for another day centre for the elderly at an alternative site was expected to be amended.
According to a spokesman for the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, the Housing Authority’s planning application, filed in 2006, was amended, substituting the original proposal for a day care centre for the elderly into a centre for disabled people.
The building had a market value of about €1.5 million, Dr Aquilina said, adding the council planned to restore it to its former glory. The day care centre for the elderly will be built in the back yard, which covers an area of about 600 square metres.
Dr Aquilina said the council planned to start using part of the building as a day care centre from next year but would not give a deadline by when the more extensive works would be concluded.
Meanwhile, council workers were yesterday painstakingly setting up desks and filing cabinets on the first floor from where the council will be operating.
As the Siggiewi flag fluttered from the flag mast on the roof, the stone plaque on the facade featuring the PL’s emblem was covered with a white sheet.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com