Nobody believed Nationalist MP and former minister Chris Said except for his party leader Simon Busuttil, Local Government Minister Owen Bonnici said today. 

A report by the Auditor-General released last week found evidence of "unwarranted" intervention by Dr Said in the allocation of funds for works by local councils when he was the parliamentary secretary in charge of them. 

Dr Said subsequently said he "assumed responsibility" for the report findings but insisted that any intervention was intended to expedite council projects, not to discriminate between them. 

But Local Government parliamentary secretary Stefan Buontempo today argued this wasn't true, saying that the report showed how the government had forked out an additional €300,000 for works in Birkirkara and Munxar alone. 

Dr Buontempo accused Dr Said of having intervened in council funding at every step of the process, "from preliminary applications to shortlisting to funding." 

In a reaction, the Nationalist Party argued that the Auditor-General's report had shown how the existing Labour government was discriminating against PN-majority councils by awarding 86 per cent of all funds to PL-led ones. 

Proof that Dr Said had not favoured any particular councils could be seen in the fact that, under his leadership, 52 per cent of local council funding had gone to councils with a PL majority, the party said.