Farrugia raises Housing Authority ‘demons’ in Parliament

But if the Labour Party's deputy leader Anglu Farrugia has any say in the matter, this might as well fall in the Authority's portfolio, too. According to a parliamentary question submitted by Farrugia, the HA has in fact already declared a property as 'haunted by the devil' - "post imxajtan".

The Authority's CEO, Dr Albert Buttigieg, told this newspaper that the HA currently lacks the competence to ascertain whether paranormal activities really do occur in properties. However, HA did in fact speak with a priest to confirm whether there were any strange goings-on in a particular flat in Valletta.

"The priest didn't see or hear anything out of the ordinary. But he still prayed," Buttigieg said.

The priest had been asked to visit the place by the woman living in the flat. Farrugia's intervention in parliament was about a social case and said the person in question was homeless. But, as explained by Buttigieg, the situation is... rather different.

The woman, a victim of domestic violence, was allocated an apartment in Valletta in 2008 after the man she was living with threw her out. At the time, she had four children.

Buttigieg said the woman had problems with her neighbours after she failed to contribute to the communal expenses. The Housing Authority more than once tried to convince her to issue the payments, but to no avail.

"On the paranormal activity issue, the woman complained of seeing some strange things and had asked a priest to pray in her apartment," Buttigieg said.

He added that since the woman is not living in the apartment, the HA asked for the keysto be returned before giving her a new apartment. But the woman has no intention of surrendering the apartment until the authority finds her a new one.

"In fact, the woman has applied for a new apartment and wants to swap it with the current apartment. However, she only wants to live in Kalkara, but we currently have no available place in the locality," Buttigieg said.

The woman needs a three-bedroom place since she now has five children, aged between eight months and 14 years.

"In reality, as stated in the written agreement, the Authority can take away the Valletta flat since she is no longer living in it. However, we are being prudent and have chosen not to take such decisions for now," he noted.

Buttigieg added that if the Authority manages to allocate a place for the woman, it would subsidise the works to make it habitable.