Azzopardi insists no illegalities in ‘election’ encroachment permits

There was nothing illegal in the way the previous administration issued 25 encroachment permits in the run-up to the 2013 general election, shadow justice minister Jason Azzopardi insisted.

“The National Audit Office didn’t find anything illegal in its recent report, and there was nothing unusual in the rate of permits issued in the months in question,” the former lands minister said during Monday night’s edition of Reporter. “Indeed, in three years, the current Labour government has yet to revoke or change the rates of any of these permits,”

A recent National Audit Office report identified an unfair application of rates for encroachments issued by the Government Property Department (GPD) in the run-up to the election, with establishments bearing similar characteristics and requesting similar permits being charged significantly different rates, merely due to the date when the permit was first issued. Out of the 25 encroachment permits granted between December 2012 and March 2013, 13 were signed by Azzopardi as minister responsible for the GPD.

The NAO highlighted a request for an encroachment permit made on 8 October 2012 by a fresh produce importer, relating to two vacant and abandoned stores at Ta’ Qali. The GPD prepared a site plan on 5 March 2013 and forwarded a request for the minister’s authorization later that on that day. Azzopardi approved the encroachment permit that same day, which permit was subsequently issued on 7 March – two days before the election - at an annual fee of €1,000 per annum, diverged from the applicable minimum standard rate of €3,241.

Another notable divergence between the applied rate and the standard rate was that of a kiosk situated at a Mellieha playground, the encroachment permit of which was granted on 4 March 2013 at an annual rate of €6,950 – less than half the €14,000 that the GPD should have charged had the standard rates been applied.

However, Azzopardi argued that the NAO report discredits Prime Minister Joseph Muscat who had in November 2013 accused the former minister of having issued over 100 encroachment permits in the two months prior to the election.

Moreover, he said that it was the GPD’s job to fix encroachment rates, and that his role as minister was simply to sign the approvals. In the case of the Mellieha kiosk, he said that the rate was substantial, given that it was granted on condition that the kiosk owner cede a long-standing legal dispute against the GDP in relation to whether he was legally permitted to inherit the encroachment permit for the kiosk that his father had been granted in 1965 at an annual rate of €2.33.

Indeed, the NAO noted that that case is far from resolved, with the kiosk owner still persisting to deposit €2.33 a year, clocking up an outstanding balance of €20,850 for 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Former minister says he never met with original Fekruna landowner

Azzopardi insisted that he has never met Raymond Vella, owner of the now-demolished Mare d’Oro restaurant in Fekruna Bay, Xemxija. In a land-swap deal brokered four days before the 2013 election, the previous administration expropriated Fekruna Bay, granting Vella land at San Gwann and Swieqi valued at €4.3 million in return.   

When questioned by host Saviour Balzan as to whether Vella had held a meeting with Lawrence Gonzi, the MP said that he isn’t in a position to answer for the former Prime Minister.

When asked whether the timing of the deal – four days before the election – was suspicious, Azzopardi argued that the deal was reached after three years of negotiations with no political interference, and that the values of the lands in question were set by an arbiter, after consultation with five architects.

“The PN had promised in its [2008] manifesto that it would reclaim land in scenic areas to be enjoyed by the public, and a committee in 2009 identified Fekruna Bay as one of five sites earmarked for expropriation,” he said, arguing that the current government has continued to invest in the beautification of the bay and challenging Muscat to publish all government documentation related to the deal.

“While I agree that a public debate should be held on what the government should and should not do prior to an election, but unless the law changes, the wheels of government cannot stop turning during an election campaign.”

The former minister insisted that he never negotiated expropriations during his five-year Cabinet tenure, that no minister ever urged him to sign a particular expropriation deal, and that he was never informed about potential abuse at the Lands Department save for one report against a Lands official "that I forwarded straight to the police commissioner". 

He also questioned why the current government has backtracked on his ministerial plans to digitise the Lands Department documentation, claiming that such a process will result in "a leap forward in quality" and a more transparent system.