[WATCH] Galdes says allegations on Siġġiewi social housing a ‘media spin’

Minister Roderick Galdes has brushed off claims that nearly a hundred voters were registered as residents at a social housing project which is still under construction in Siġġiewi as “media spin”.

“Should we leave people waiting for two months and wait for the election to pass before we give them social housing? This is a spin by MaltaToday,” the minister told journalists outside parliament on Tuesday.

Last week, the Nationalist Party accused the Labour Party of registering nearly a hundred voters as residents at a government housing project in Siġġiewi which is still under construction.

In a report on Sunday, MaltaToday dug further into the story, and revealed ghost voters had their ID cards transferred to the new address in the past three weeks despite the building not yet able to house people.

Significantly, 73% of these people hail from three localities that form part of Housing Minister Roderick Galdes’s constituency. 

A list of voters seen by MaltaToday shows that 48 of the 99 individuals currently live in Qormi, 19 live in Siġġiewi and five in Luqa. The three localities form part of the sixth electoral district from which Galdes is elected. 

Questioned outside parliament on Tuesday, the minister denied any wrongdoing, stating authorities are following procedure which has been in place for years.

“You have to install water and electricity, prepare the contracts. We are living in a record year of government allocating social housing,” he said.

MaltaToday understands all the 99 applications were filled by the same individual, but Galdes refused to engage when asked on this.

He went on to attack the PN, saying “they do not want social housing in Siggiewi”, denying claims it was a case of gerrymandering.