Social housing minister visits controversial Siġġiewi housing block

Social accommodation minister Roderick Galdes has visited the controversial Silvio Parnis housing block in Siġġiewi.

During the visit, Galdes met with a number of residents in the block who shared their experiences and spoke of the boost in the quality of life they enjoy since moving in. 

The building was at the centre of a controversy in the weeks leading up to the previous local council elections. 

It all started when the Nationalist Party accused the Labour Party of registering nearly a hundred voters as residents at building which was still under construction in a locality which had been won by the PL by a small margin. MaltaToday then found that none of the 99 individuals listed as residents actually lived there despite them being registered as residents.

Galdes had brushed off these claims, saying that they were simply a media spin.

Despite this, a magistrate had confirmed that the changes in addresses were irregular, ordering the police to investigate and identify the public officials and entities who had manipulated voters into changing their address. The magistrate had ruled that there “could be no doubt” that the voters in question had not taken the initiative to register themselves at the specified address, the magistrate said that it was “shameful that they had been taken advantage of and manipulated by people who were entrusted with looking after their interests and wellbeing.”

The PL eventually lost the Siġġiewi local council, as PN agents at the counting hall in Naxxar sarcastically thanked Galdes as news of the result emerged.