(Adds PN's reaction)

The owners of a property in St Joseph High Road Venera requisitioned by the government and since used as a Labour Party club, have been awarded compensation of €75,000.

The Constitutional Court in a judgement today said the owners' human rights were violated when the property was requisitioned from the Grech family by the government in 1967, which had declared that the property was required as it had been decided to construct a bypass from Hamrun to Marsa.

The project had not materialised as the government decided to iexcavate a tunnel for traffic instead of the bypass.

Consequently there was no need for the demolition of the owners' house or of other houses in the vicinity.

The house remained vacant until 1973 when the government allocated the house to the Labour Party to be used as a political club against an annual rent of Lm45 (104.85 euros). Following proceedings before the Rent Regulation Board the rent was increased to Lm164 (382.12 euros) per annum.

Philip, Frank, Alfred, Gaetano and Christopher Grech, May Mifsud, Angela Hili and Maryanne Gera filed their constitutional application before Mr Justice Raymond C Pace in the First Hall of the Civil Court against the Director of Social Accommodation and against the Labour Party Club of Santa Venera.

PN'S REACTION

In a statement, the Nationalist Party said that because of the Labour Party's irresponsible behaviour in retaining property owned by private citizens to be used as party clubs, the Maltese now had to fork out €75,000 from their taxes.

This, the PN said, was not the only property the Labour Party had taken from private citizens to use as clubs. The party never apologised for its actions.

The Labour Party's behaviour was unacceptable, irresponsible and not deserving of a political party which supposedly believed in respecting the people's right to enjoy their property.

The PN said it was waiting for the Labour leader's decision to see whether the PL would persist in its mistake or return the St Venera Club to the people it belonged to once the rental period expired in June

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