‘Give us our property back’ - homeowner's plea to Labour leader for requisitioned home

Grech’s appeal comes in the wake of a decision by the Constitutional court to award Philip Grech and his family €60,000 in compensation from government, for the illegal requisition of his property in Santa Venera in 1967 by a Nationalist government.

While reducing the damages by €15,000, the court confirmed the illegality of the requisition of private property for its use as a party club, which the Labour government have to the party in 1973.

But Grech is not aggrieved by the reduction in compensation – for him “this is not a question of money but a question of principle.”

The Grechs are now pursuing the eviction of the Labour Party from its club through another court case. “We are hoping the court will decide to evict them but if not we will continue to fight for justice even if we have to go to the European Court.”

He warns that the damages awarded by the European Court of Human Rights would be even higher than those imposed by the Maltese court.

But Grech is willing to drop this case if Labour returns the property back or agrees to purchase the property. “My advice to the Labour Party is to return the premises amicably or else come to an agreement to purchase the property and save the tax payer’s money… If this happens we will drop all court actions.”

Grech is however also insisting the club be returned in the same condition the party found it before its requisition by the Labour government back in 1973.

Grech has already approached Muscat on the matter. On his part, the Labour leader appointed deputy leader for party affairs Toni Abela and PL president Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi to meet up with them. “But unfortunately the meeting never took place,” Grech says.

Asked whether Labour intends returning the property following the Constitutional court sentence, a PL spokesperson said the courts had not made any further pronouncement apart from ordering government compensation.

The spokesperson added that the property had origanally been requisition by a Nationalist administration in 1967 and kept vacant until 1973, when the Labour government allocated it to the Labour party.

The party spokesperson also remind your readers that this property was originally requisitioned by a Nationalist Administration in 1967 and kept vacant till 1973 when the Labour government allocated the property to the Labour Party.

Grech firmly believes that until the PL comes clean on cases like the requisition of his family’s property it will not win the trust of floating voters. “Unfortunately the Labour Party is still suffering the sins of the father and until they come clean they will lose the chance of being in government.”

He also expressed disappointment that the recent rent reform in 2009 had excluded party clubs. “We feel that we were let down by our party,” Grech said, referring to the Nationalist Party.

The Labour Party presently pays a paltry €323 a year for renting the property but the Grechs cannot increase the rent, which remains frozen.

The Grech family saga

Grech’s family home in Santa Venera was requisitioned by the Nationalist government in 1967 with the aim of opening a bypass linking Hamrun and Marsa.

For six years after the issue of the requisition order, the imposing property was left unused, until the Labour government in 1973 broke into the vacant house, stored the Grechs’ furniture at an undisclosed location, imposed a paltry, take-it-or-leave-it rent to be paid to the Grech family and transformed the premises into a Labour Party club.

Refusing to surrender the keys to the property, the old man’s home was transformed into an MLP club nevertheless, after people broke in through the front door to remove everything that was inside – Grech’s father had left behind him all his personal belongings and furniture. Nobody knows what happened to these belongings.

A constitutional case signed by lawyer Clare Bonello was presented in November 2006. Three years later Grech was awarded €75,000 in damages after a constitutional court ruled that his fundamental human rights had been breached when his property was requisitioned without compensation. The sentence was confirmed last week although the damages were reduced to €60,000.

Grech also initiated legal proceedings to evict the Labour Party after discovering that the occupants of his family home had pulled down walls and carried out structural alterations without consent. The court at first ruled in Grech’s favour, but the tenants appealed and the decision was revoked at appeal stage. In 2007, a lawyer representing the PL wrote to the Grechs, “cheekily requesting the repair of a balcony that had been damaged.” Upon receipt of the letter, Grech appointed an architect to carry out a survey – only to find that the damage caused to the balcony was due to negligence on the tenants’ part. A fresh law suite was filed and the Grechs are still awaiting a verdict.