‘No ethics breach’ in Sadeen ‘gift’ to Marsaskala local council

The Local Governance Board has ruled that there was nothing illegal or unethical in the way Marsaskala Labour mayor Mario Calleja solicited financial help for the local council from the developers of the proposed ‘American University of Malta’.

“There was nothing illegal or unethical in the way the mayor requested [Sadeen] to financially assist in the construction of new council premises, in the locality’s interest,” the board concluded in its investigation report into the mayor. “Allegations against the mayor that were carried in the media were therefore completely unfounded.”

One of the three members of the Local Governance Board is Ronnie Pellegrini, the close aide of former works minister Lorry Sant. The other two members on the board are Noel Bartolo and Arthur Ellul.

Calleja last month admitted that he had negotiated “help” during a meeting with Sadeen, including the construction of new premises for the local council, lighting and road works, two public convenience facilities and a new sewage system.

“I will take what I can,” Calleja said. “How can we be expected to build our new premises without the funds? We did what everyone else would do. There’s nothing wrong with this.”

The PN described the case as “typical of the corruption that has become institutionalised under Joseph Muscat”, and several major environmental NGOs claimed that Calleja’s behaviour amounts to bribery.

“We deem Calleja’s behaviour to be unethical, and no local council should be begging for help in kind,” Front Harsien ODZ had said.

However, the local governance board stated that Calleja was fully within his rights to request the financial aid from part of the ‘planning gain’ that Sadeen is likely to fork out if MEPA approves the AUM project. 

MEPA frequently imposes planning gains on large-scale development, tying developers down into including minor projects that benefit the community as part of the overall development. However, planning gains are decided upon after and not before the approval of a project and Sadeen has not yet even filed a planning application for its controversial prokect.

Josef Grech, executive secretary of the Marsaskala local council, recounted to the board how the first ever meeting between the council and Sadeen – that was organised  by the Office of the Prime Minister - took place on 10 November at the WasteServ visiting centre.

The board noted that Nationalist counsellors John Baptist Camilleri, Charlot Cassar and Sandro Gatt didn’t attend the meeting, a no-show that they didn’t inform the Grech about in advance.

After the meeting, Grech and Calleja had a chat with Sadeen representative Yusef Al Haroub, and conversation eventually turned to the proposed premises for the new council, during which Al Haroub asked the pair whether Sadeen can help the council out in any way. Calleja and Grech proposed that planning gains imposed on Sadeen by MEPA could be partially allocated on the premises project. Al Haroub promptly agreed to their proposal.

The Local Governance board also noted that the Marsaskala local council had already taken an official stance in favour of the AUM project on 18 March, eight months before their first meeting with Sadeen.

During a subsequent council meeting on 16 November at which eight of the nine counsellors were present, nobody objected to Calleja’s report on his handshake with Sadeen.