Naxxar mayor gets hushed-up clearance from PN administrative

The Naxxar mayor against whom PN leader Bernard Grech went head-to-head by demanding her resignation over an alleged conflict of interest, has been cleared of any ethics breach by the Nationalist Party’s administrative council. 

The PN has remained tight-lipped about Annemarie Muscat Fenech Adami’s refusal to resign, after failing to declare a conflict of interest when voting in favour of a high-rise development at the former Naxxar trade fair grounds. 

And while she was slated to face a party disciplinary hearing for refusing to resign, Muscat Fenech Adami remained in place as mayor and was even supported by Labour councillors to back up her controversial vote in favour of a high-rise project. 

While repeated requests by MaltaToday on the disciplinary hearing were not answered by the PN, the president of the administrative council Graham Bencini has refused to confirm or deny a decision not to sanction the Naxxar mayor. 

MaltaToday understands that Muscat Fenech Adami was informed that the party hearing found no ethics breach over her refusal to stand down as mayor, after voting in favour of a high-rise despite the local council’s earlier objection. 

Opposition leader Bernard Grech remains evasive over the way his party dealt with a decision to refer the mayor to the PN’s disciplinary committee for refusing a direct instruction to resign. 

In December 2021, Muscat Fenech Adami refused to resign after MaltaToday reported that she had failed to declare to the local council, that she was a company secretary in a firm partly owned by Edwin Mintoff, the architect of controversial 10-storey tower she voted in favour of. 

Nationalist mayor Anne Marie Muscat Fenech Adami voted for the project, a two-tower complex at the former trade fair grounds, despite the council having previously said it was opposed to the proposed height just in November. 

The company Chalet Bulgari was formed in 2007, and architect Edwin Mintoff, has a 14% shareholding. 

Additionally, the mayor is CEO of Veduta Estates, a company that owns 14% of Chalet Bulgari, the company which includes Mintoff as shareholder. 

Muscat Fenech Adami justified her vote in favour of the project by saying that it did not go against current planning policies. “Although I am personally against high-rise development in Naxxar, I cannot be egoistical,” she said, adding that she saw no conflict of interest. “I work with the company. It is not mine. Everyone has a job. They are two different jobs, and I see no conflict of interest.” 

Naxxar saga 

Minutes of an October 2021 meeting that discussed the project, state that the decision was to inform the PA that the council “wishes that the development is not so high and that the open spaces are maintained by the developer.” Subsequently, a note was sent by the PA in which the council welcomed several improvements made over a previous application, while reiterating its concern on the proposed height.  

But both the PN mayor, and Labour minority leader Marlon Brincat, insisted with MaltaToday that the vote reflected the 27 October discussion between councillors. 

It was only PN councillor Joe Spiteri who argued that the ten-storey development was unsuitable for Naxxar, warning it would set a precedent for other high-rise buildings, and expressing a preference for a five-storey development. 

Yet both Muscat Fenech Adami and Brincat argued that the choice was limited to either a five-storey development covering the entire site, or applying the ‘floor-area ratio’, the mechanism that retains half the site as open public space in return for taller heights. 

At no stage was a vote requested or taken, to determine whether the council should vote in favour or against the project. 

The project is proposed by San Pawl tat-Targa Investments, which own the site. Virtù Properties (Portelli, Virtu Holdings) and Ziz Limited (Joseph Debono) own the company.  Edwin Mintoff & Associates are project architects.