A parliamentary discussion about extending the Buleben Industrial Estate into nearby agricultural land descending into a slanging match on Monday, with Partit Demokratiku MP Marlene Farrugia calling Labour MP Clint Camilleri a "ġbejna". 

The odd reference to the traditional Maltese sheep's cheese came in an angry outburst towards the end of the Environment and Development Planning Committee session, in which Dr Farrugia called Mr Camilleri a "paradigm of arrogance" who was trying to justify the "theft" of land from Żejtun farmers. 

Dr Farrugia delivered the tongue-lashing after Mr Camilleri made several references to the Nationalist Party's 2006 rationalisation exercise and noted that it was a PN administration that had granted Malta Industrial Parks the land being discussed. 

The PD MP reached for an unusual simile when insulting Mr Camilleri. Photo: Wikipedia

The land was granted to MIP through a 2010 legal notice, with Wirt iż-Żejtun activist and former Environment Resources Authority CEO Ruben Abela telling committee members that some of the land transferred had been Outside Development Zone land. 

READ: Żejtun council joins voices against industrial estate expansion

There is little love lost between Dr Farrugia and Mr Camilleri, who serves as parliamentary secretary for animal rights despite being an avid hunter and trapper. Last December, Mr Camilleri had mocked the PD MP as a "clarinet player who wants to teach us how to trap [birds]."

Following Dr Farrugia's words on Monday night, Mr Camilleri requested a ruling from the Speaker, with the Gozitan MP suggesting that Dr Farrugia had used the word "ġbejna" as a slur on Malta's sister island. 

The ruling request was formally made during plenary by committee chairman Alex Muscat. 

Earlier on, Economy Minister Chris Cardona told the committee that he would be raising the possibility of de-zoning the land in question - and therefore protecting it from any further development attempts - before cabinet. 

Malta Industrial Parks CEO Karl Azzopardi said plans to extend the industrial estate into the agricultural land were a backup plan, should attempts to repurpose areas of the existing industrial estate fail to materialise. Elaborating, Environment Minister José Herrera said that the government had already excluded 75 per cent of the land eligible to be taken up for the expansion of the industrial estate.

Mr Azzopardi explained that there was currently demand for 186,000 square metres of industrial space. MIP had access to 170,000 square metres, he said, with a further 20,000 square metres available should a court rule that abandoned property could be retrieved and re-purposed. 

The process to dezone the land would take around six months, the MIP CEO said in reply to a question from Opposition MP and former Lands Minister Jason Azzopardi. 

Dr Azzopardi questioned why farmers working the land in question had been served with eviction notices if the government had no intention of developing the area.