Former parliamentary secretary Jason Azzopardi has defended the controversial Fekruna Bay expropriation deal, insisting he was proud of the outcome and that he had nothing to be ashamed of.
Dr Azzopardi was meant to deliver a sworn declaration to the Public Accounts Committee on Wednesday as it continued its discussions on a National Audit Office report into the 2013 land deal by the previous Nationalist administration.
But the meeting descended into farce as Nationalist and Labour MPs sparred for a full hour over whether Dr Azzopardi should deliver the statement verbally or in writing.
Committee chairman Beppe Fenech Adami argued that previous witnesses before the PAC had all been allowed to read out their statement, while Labour MP Robert Abela insisted this was at the discretion of the committee and demanded a vote.
As a shouting match ensued, Dr Fenech Adami eventually requested a ruling from the Speaker and suspended the meeting.
'No suggestion of illegality'
In his lengthy statement, a copy of which was provided to Times of Malta by Dr Azzopardi, the Nationalist MP repeatedly stressed that no illegality had ever been suggested, that all valuations had been drawn up by independent experts, and that he had not in any way influenced the negotiations.
According to the NAO report, on March 5, 2013, just days before a general election, the Lands Department had signed a contract transferring two properties in Swieqi and San Ġwann, worth €4.3 million jointly, as payment for land expropriated at Fekruna Bay, Xemxija.
The Fekruna land was valued at €5 million and the difference in favour of Fekruna Ltd, €700,000, was offset against amounts due to the government by the company in lieu of capital gains tax and duty on documents.
The report found that taxpayers had lost more than €1 million through the deal. However, it also acknowledged that the goal of acquiring the land to return it to its original state had served the public interest.
Dr Azzopardi said on Wednesday that as a result of the deal, the public had a guarantee that that environmentally sensitive site would remain accessible and would never be built up.
He said three different architects commissioned by the Government Property Department (GPD) in 2010 had all reached the same valuation of €5 million. Architects commissioned by Fekruna Ltd had valued the land at between €6.75 and €7.5 million.
Would it have been just for the expropriation not to take place simply because there was an election around the corner?
Dr Azzopardi said the valuation was realistic and reasonable when compared to the expropriation in 1996 of a similar-sized plot - which, in contrast, was not developable - for around €932,000.
He also said the sites in Swieqi and San Ġwann were not chosen by Fekruna Ltd but by the Lands Department, and valued by three jointly-chosen experts.
“If the only criticism is that the expropriation took place a few days before the general election, my answer is clear: after more than three and a half years of negotiation, would it have been just for the expropriation not to take place simply because there was an election around the corner?”
Dr Azzopardi said that if there had been any illegality in the process, the Labour government had every legal right and opportunity to revoke the deal, but that it had opted instead for “cowardly mud-slingling”.
He said a report by the government’s Internal Audit Investigations Department (IAID) had concluded that the case was merely one of an “administrative shortcoming”.
Dr Azzopardi reiterated the strong public interest that the deal had served and said his only regret was that the government at the time had not concluded the expropriation of other sensitive sites, including Festiva in Mellieħa, Rivieria Martinique in Għajn Tuffieħa, and the Ulysess Lodge and Tigulio sites in St Julian's.