Transport Minister Ian Borg has not replied to questions on the private business interests of Lands Authority CEO James Piscopo with the Zammit Tabona family who owns, among other interests, the Fortina Group.
Asked to state his position following a report by The Sunday Times of Malta and to say what action he will be taking to safeguard the public interest over any potential private interests, a spokeswoman for Dr Borg avoided giving any direct replies.
Instead, she only directed Times of Malta to the law regulating the conduct of the Lands Authority and its officials.
“You may wish to note that this is regulated by Article 31 of CAP 563 – kindly I ask you to refer to that,” was the reply by the Transport Ministry.
Times of Malta asked Dr Borg to say whether he was aware of Mr Piscopo’s private business interests, whether Mr Piscopo had declared these interests with the board once the Fortina negotiations were ongoing and whether any due diligence was made on Mr Piscopo’s private interests prior to his appointment as CEO.
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According to the law cited by Dr Borg, the CEO was obliged to declare to the Lands Authority’s governing board, chaired by former Judge Lino Farrugia Sacco, his conflict of interest “upon be-coming aware of such interest”.
It is not yet known if Mr Piscopo declared his conflict of interest to the board in the ongoing negotiations between the Zammit Tabonas – shareholders of the Fortina Hotel – and their multimillion proposed development in Tigne with the Lands Authority.
The law, cited by the minister, stipulates that in this case, Mr Piscopo was obliged to disclose to the board the nature of his interest and to take no part in any consideration of the issue under negotiation.
Obliged to disclose the nature of his interest
Through his private consultancy company, Undecim Five Investments Ltd, incorporated in 2016, Mr Piscopo, at the time already Transport Malta’s chairman and CEO, invested in two private businesses – BBF Ltd and Floors of Stone Ltd.
The Zammit Tabona family holds shares in both companies, and is represented by the Fortina CEO Edward Zammit Tabona.
Last April, according to the then Lands Authority CEO Charlo Mifsud, the Fortina and the authority had already been in negotiations and were close on concluding a deal over a clause which regulates part of the public land sold to Fortina.
During a Planning Authority hearing to permit the development, PA CEO Johann Buttigieg said he had already been given the “preliminary clearance” from the Lands Authority.
However, when asked about his interest in the ongoing negotiations last week, Mr Piscopo said negotiations were far from being concluded.
“There was only one meeting to keep the ‘discussions ongoing’ for which I was not present,” he told The Sunday Times of Malta.
Confirming that there was no agreement yet, he said any eventual deal will have to be approved by Parliament.
According to the contentious clause in the Fortina contracts, the public land sold to them was to be used only for an extension of the hotel. The commercial development they are proposing, to build offices, cannot take place if this clause is not amended through an agreement with the Lands Authority.
An amendment to this clause will boost the market value of the land.
Questioned over his direct conflict of interest as CEO of the Lands Authority and the business partner of the Fortina shareholders, Mr Piscopo, a former Air Malta employee, said he had already started the process to divest his business interests and sold his shares in BBF Ltd.
He said that he had also started the process to sell his shares in Floors of Stone Ltd, currently controlled by Sharlon Pace, another business partner of Mr Piscopo and a renowned land speculator who is also the president of Gżira United football club.
Mr Piscopo’s other business partner, Edward Zammit Tabona, is the team’s chief executive officer.
ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com