A detailed investigation by the National Audit office has dismissed allegations made in January 2016 of wrongdoing by a former parliamentary secretary for lands Jason Azzopardi.
The allegations were made anonymously regarding a property forming part of the Home Ownership Scheme in Santa Luċija and payment to the former owners of expropriated land.
It had been claimed that the parliamentary secretary used his influence to expedite the process for payment by the former Government Property Division (GPD) for land expropriated for the Home Ownership Scheme. It was further claimed that the former parliamentary secretary negotiated the purchase of a house, built on a portion of the acquired land under the conditions of the HOS.
The NAO has just now again given me an excellent & clean bill of health by shooting down the obscene anonymous allegations which the PL cronies made against me during the time when I was criticizing the corrupt... https://t.co/RRtPjrSpaQ
— Jason Azzopardi (@AzzopardiJason) May 7, 2018
The Audit Office said that although the information provided in relation to specific events was mostly correct, it did not consider the historic, legal, and administrative context. All of these variables played a critical part in assessing whether the former parliamentary secretary had influenced processes related to the HOS for his own benefit.
"To this effect, this investigation did not reveal evidence to support the claims and implications made," the Audit Ofice said.
It explained that the former parliamentary secretary’s negotiations to purchase the property in question were subsequent to the declaration of Government’s intention to embark on a drive to settle outstanding HOS cases in Budget 2010. These negotiations also followed the GPD’s commencement of the administrative processes in November 2009 to settle outstanding dues with respect to HOS land acquisition cases in Santa Luċija.
This investigation also revealed that the processes undertaken by the GPD and the Housing Authority to conclude the HOS land acquisition process with respect to the case in question adhered to legal and administrative requirements.
The payment to owners of expropriated land followed the GPD’s undocumented criteria, which considered availability of funds. Moreover, the GPD practically concluded the administrative and legal processes pertaining to all of the outstanding HOS plots in Santa Luċija at the same time.
This report may be accessed through the National Audit Office website at www.nao.gov.mt or Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NAOMalta.