I would like to reply to all the questions put to me by Godfrey Pirotta (March 4):

When you rented this land to these people, was a formal contract signed, and if in the affirmative, did the people involved turn up to sign the contract?

There is a lease agreement between myself and the person who rented my field at Mistra, the leaseholder, which is in the form of a private writing, that is, a written and signed agreement. So, of course, the people involved turned up to sign the agreement.

Would you not agree with me that this is normal procedure?

Yes, I agree. It is common practice for a rental agreement to be made in the form of a private writing.

Would not this mean that you have met the people concerned and have an idea of who they are?

Of course I know who my land is leased to. The person I did not know was the one who signed the Mepa application form.

The person to whom I rented the Mistra property and the person who submitted the Mepa application are two different persons. When I asked the leaseholder why he had delegated the application to someone else, his answer was simple. He was afraid that if the application was made in his name, someone in the clubbing scene would do his utmost to wreck the application.

Do you think that it is unusual, if not impossible, for one to rent out property to people he has not met and has no idea who they are?

This is a ridiculous suggestion. I never denied knowing the person who I rented the property to. It is the person who signed the Mepa application that I didn't know.

As the land is yours would not these people need your permission before they can submit an application to change the use of the property or indeed to do anything with the property?

As I said in last Saturday's Talking Point, I was aware of the fact that an application for a permit to build an underground lavatory and an open-air dance floor of less than two metres high had been submitted to Mepa. My consent is however not required before an application is submitted. This applies to all Mepa applications. As owner I have to be notified by the applicant and the form being waved in everybody's face by Alfred Sant is not a consent form signed by me but a form from the applicant's architect signifying that he had sent me a notification that an application had been submitted. I was not informed that the application had been changed from the original. I still do not know the full details of the project involved and have never seen the full development application. I only learnt it was different from the original outline application because of what Dr Sant has said. This notwithstanding I appealed to the leaseholder to withdraw the application in order to clear any doubts.

Would this not also mean that these people, unless they were acting behind your back, had consulted you on the matter and obtained your signed approval?

No. I repeat, my signed approval was not necessary. The law, however strange it sounds, gives every person the right to submit an application concerning property belonging to others. However, as I said, I was aware of the original application.

Do you not think from what you say in your article that you have been kept well informed of the application process considering that you claim that you do not know the people and have no interest in the application?

As I said, I was only aware of the fact that an outline application was submitted to Mepa for a permit to build an underground lavatory and an open-air dance floor of less than two metres high. As I have said above, it is the person who signed the Mepa application that I did not know. Of course I knew the person I leased the land to. But I did not know that the full development application was different from the original application.

In not mentioning the location of the land in question are you perhaps not failing in being transparent enough with the public you so much wish to convince that everyone is above board?

All relevant information is available online on the Mepa website and, therefore, fully accessible to the public. Also, the location of the land is certainly not being hidden. It is plastered on MLP billboards across the country.