Parliamentary Secretary José Herrera has told Parliament that the scheme for the rent of government-owned shops in Valletta to be turned into emphyteusis was an improvement on what came before.

The government could have left things as they were, evicted shopkeepers operating illegitimately or found more revenue while legitimising the position of such shopkeepers.

He told Opposition MPs Claudio Grech and Jason Azzopardi that when the new laws were passed to protect pre-1995 rents, the legislation had exempted the holders of government rents from such protection and allowed it to raise rents at a whim, sometimes by too much and without explanation.

Some increases were seen as ploys to drive shopkeepers away. The new scheme an-nounced last week removed the government’s discretion and validated the location of present shopkeepers.