Former Nationalist Party president Victor Scerri insists he will clear his name at all costs and says it is likely the controversy over the reconstruction of a farmhouse in Baħrija Valley will end up in court.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Dr Scerri says that "all that can be done must be done" and he has instructed his lawyers to "go all the way".
Without entering into the merits of whether he would be suing the Malta Environment and Planning Authority and government if the most recent permit for the property is withdrawn, Dr Scerri says he has appointed a legal team to look at the process in its "entirety".
"I'm going all the way to clear my name no matter how long it takes and how much it costs. I also want to defend my family's interests," Dr Scerri says.
Earlier in the week, Dr Scerri stepped down PN president, insisting he wanted to defend himself as a private citizen without the shackles of the political post.
Denying he was put under pressure by the party to resign, Dr Scerri says: "I wanted to defend myself as a private citizen and now I will not hold back from saying certain things or taking certain action."
The case created embarrassment to the government, especially in the wake of the Prime Minister's commitment that his government would be applying a zero-tolerance approach to construction in outside development zones.
A day after his resignation the government published the Mepa auditor's investigation, which concluded that in granting Dr Scerri his permit the development control commission boards ignored all policies meant to safeguard the environment.
Between 2000 and 2007 Dr Scerri's wife, under whose name the application was filed, was granted four different permits for the reconstruction of a farmhouse on land at the bottom of a pristine valley in Baħrija.
The new building was intended to replace a dilapidated six-room farmhouse that was already on the site.
The last permit issued in 2007 was for an extension by two rooms to the already approved farmhouse permit granted in 2003. The auditor said the DCC broke the law when it approved the last permit since an additional screening process by the Environmental Protection Department had been completely ignored.
Mepa has already informed Dr Scerri that it started the process for the last permit to be withdrawn.
Dr Gonzi, who is politically responsible for Mepa, has so far not made clear his views regarding the accountability of board members in this case.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com