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LETTERS | Sunday, 05 August 2007

Real Finanz confirms request by BirdLife to buy Ta’ Cenc

In response to the report which appeared in MaltaToday Midweek of 1 August, Real Finanz deplores the attitude taken by some media contributors who continue to ignore the facts and opt to make use of sensational and incorrect information in their attempt to harness public opinion or to obtain political mileage.

Whilst everyone has every right to air his views, they should follow the normal procedures available to every citizen and not try to influence public opinion.

Victor Borg categorically denies ever having said that BirdLife Malta had proposed to buy this land and offering not to oppose his prospective development in the area.

In a letter sent by BirdLife President Joe Mangion to Victor Borg, Mr Mangion stated: “BirdLife Malta is interested to buy the land which is not earmarked for development particularly the extensive garigue and steppe areas”, and asked “whether it is possible for a delegation from BirdLife Malta to meet and discuss this proposal informally.”

A meeting was held sometime later to discuss the matter.

As regards the Lm5 million offer, sometime after this meeting a trusted professional person told Victor Borg that BirdLife would have been willing to offer around Lm5 million if Real Finanz accepted to sell.

At this point Victor Borg repeated what he had said to BirdLife during the meeting – that is, with no disrespect to BirdLife, Real Finanz were not interested in selling these areas.

Having full knowledge of the proposed Ta’ Cenc Project and knowing very well which areas were proposed for development (Villa area/Hotel Area) even from before 1997 when the present owners took over the area, BirdLife were interested to buy the proposed Heritage Park and the protected areas covering a total area of 86.42 hectares, that is nearly 60% of the whole Ta’ Cenc territory. This area is even larger than the whole of Valletta.

Mr Mangion said in comments to this newspaper: “At no point, neither in writing nor by spoken word during these discussions did BirdLife make a Lm5 million bid”, or even more so offered not to oppose the proposed development. As Real Finanz made it clear from the very beginning of the discussions and as publicly stated during the recent Sannat council meeting, Real Finanz would be more than willing to work hand in hand and cooperate in every way with BirdLife or any other NGO to protect and promote the Protected Areas and Heritage Park (the areas BirdLife were interested in). Real Finanz would never accept to sell this Heritage Park or the Protected Areas to anyone including BirdLife, especially if these areas were to be run as other areas (Ghadira Bird Sanctuary) presently operated by BirdLife, that is, they would not be open to the general public and visitors at all times and without charging any entrance fees.

During this Sannat council meeting, Victor Borg also said: “I am a Gozitan, I made what I have with the assistance of mostly Gozitan and some Maltese workers and with the generous custom which Gozitans, Maltese and visitors alike were kind enough to give us and for this reason I would like that Ta’ Cenc would not only be protected but it will also be enhanced and maintained at our expense to be freely enjoyed by everybody without having to pay any entrance fees and at the same time to serve as a marketing tool to be used by any operator, not just Real Finanz, to attract more tourists to Gozo especially during the Winter season when this is mostly needed..”

Real Finanz knows very well that especially in Gozo, it is no use having holiday accommodation or hotels unless we provide the amenities and attractions which everybody expects.

Victor Borg also mentioned Wirt Ghawdex and Heritage Malta as the organisations best suited to ensure the professional operation of the Heritage Park proposed, with no disrespect to any other NGOs who are mainly based in Malta.

This reply has been drawn up by Real Finanz owners of the Ta' Cenc land.

Editorial note:

Victor Borg’s statement categorically denying he ever said Birdlife Malta had proposed to buy the land at Ta’ Cenc is contradicted by a transcript of what he said at the Sannat local council which we are reproducing hereunder.

“I will show you a letter from Birdlife showing they wanted to buy the Heritage park, the whole of it, they told me that I can build wherever I like of they bought the park. They offered us Lm 5 million to make a sanctuary. I refused. I told them I am a Gozitan and I made my money with Gozitan workers. I want Ta’ Cenc to be enjoyed by everyone.” – Victor Borg.


Facts about the ‘Land Scandal’

Mr Savio Spiteri was recently targeted in a number of articles published in the local newspaper, MaltaToday: Conmen in Cocky Land Deals Scam (6 June 2004), More Serious Revelations on Land Scams as Libel Actions Unleashed (13 June 2004) and Public Land Not Identified by Notaries and Banks: Evidence Continues to Surface in Land Scandal (20 June 2004).

The author/s of these articles claimed that Mr Spiteri was involved in the recent scandals concerning the sale of land which, allegedly, did not belong to him. MaltaToday eventually contacted Mr Spiteri in order to obtain a complete picture of the situation,

In order to bring to print the version of the facts, as told by the person who was directly involved in the transactions condemned in its previous articles.

When contacted by MaltaToday, Mr Spiteri told of how the land in question came to form part of the assets pertaining to Spiteri Holdings Limited. Mr Spiteri runs a restaurant in Gozo, and over the years had become acquainted with two friars who sometimes frequented the restaurant. By talking to these friars he discovered that the inheritance of Reverend Paul Xuereb and his sister Tereza Xuereb had become vacant. Mr Spiteri eventually decided to purchase the entire inheritance, despite the fact that he did not know of what it consisted. However, as Mr Spiteri explained to MaltaToday, he had absolute faith in the friars and in the information given by them in relation to the inheritance of siblings Xuereb. Mr Spiteri had also found out that for some time, the vacant inheritance of siblings Xuereb had been administered by a testamentary executor who was subsequently substituted by Reverend Valente.

As Mr Spiteri explained, Reverend Valente eventually requested authorisation from the Courts of Law to sell the vacant inheritance to Spiteri Holdings Limited. Following the authorication granted by the Courts of Law, the entire inheritance was acquired by by Spiteri Holdings Limited for the price of Lm7,000 by way of a contract of sale dated 5 August 1996 held in the records of Notary Dr Tony Abela. Mr Spiteri then sought the services of an architect who eventually confirmed that the land known as Ta’ Giorni formed part of the inheritance of Reverend Paul and Tereza siblings Xuereb.

On the 13 October 1999, Spiteri Holdings Limited sold a number of plots forming part of the land known as Ta’ Giorni to Madliena Developments Limited. In the contract entered into by these companies it was stipulated that the property would be sold tale quale. Moreover, both parties to the contract exempted the notary from undertaking the usual searches prior to the publication of the contract of sale, and this only because the relative searches had already been undertaken by Notary Dr Tony Abela when the property was transferred to Spiteri Holdings Limited by the heirs of Reverend Paul Valente and his sister Tereza. This was also agreed since there had been no subsequent transfer of the property.

Mr Savio Spiteri was certain that Madliena Developments Limited was satisfied with the transaction undertaken since the Directors of said company contacted Spiteri Holdings Limited once again so as to purchase an additional portion of the property in question. The Directors of Madliena Developments Limited were also interested in acquiring Spiteri Holdings Limited. As a result, Mr Spiteri sold his shares in the company Spiteri Holdings Limited.

Subsequent to all this, the Joint Office sought to register the land known as Ta’ Giorni as property belonging to the Government of Malta. Upon this information reaching Madliena Developments Limited, the company contested this registration on the basis that the Government did not have title to the property since the Ecclesiastical authorities had lost their claim to this land through the passage of time. It is therefore being maintained that Spiteri Holdings Limited, and consequently Madliena Developments Limited, acquired the property in question through a valid title.

Dr Stefano Filletti
Valletta

Emmanuel vs. Emmanuel

On having read your report ‘Labour woos ex-GWU Emmanuel’ (MaltaToday 29 July 2007) I personally contacted Mr Emmanuel Micallef to enquire why exactly he had to mention me in the context of the editorial freedom he is purportedly insisting upon.

I wondered why he thought it appropriate to compare himself with me, since I have never chaired propaganda meetings for Dr Lawrence Gonzi at Castile, or workshop sessions during the PN’s General Council. Nor have I been handed a cushy job by a parastatal entity.

When I confronted Mr Micallef over the phone, he answered meckly that it was MaltaToday’s journalist who had first mentioned my name and that his reply had been misquoted by your newspaper. As to the alleged offer to present a programme on Super One, I find it hard to very believe that MLP’s upright and serious Administration would make such an offer to someone like Mr Micallef.

Emmanuel Cuschieri


Biting the Euro!

Today we saw parliamentary secretary Tonio Fenech “biting the euro”. Tomorrow, that same euro will make the Tonio Fenech and his PN colleagues “Bite the Dust”!

Eddy Privitera
Mosta

Political freedom

Citizens believe themselves to be free; that on Election Day, they exercise their right to vote for whomever they truly want. But in reality, this is often far from the case.

Many are enslaved by fears of the past; fears which critically condition the way they think about the present. Like tiny spiders, these fears creep into the corners of their mind, weaving cobwebs, influencing the way they perceive the present. But enslavement to the past may manifest itself in other ways: some are enslaved by loyalties to ancestors, who always voted “yellow”, and therefore feel that by voting likewise, they somehow redeem their forefathers’ debt.

By living the present political scenario through the ghosts of the past, they annihilate any sign of life from the political possibilities of the present. Worse again, others still opt to sell their political freedom to “the devil” himself. I refer to those unable to freely vote because they have made expedient pacts in return for political favours from people in power, favours they know in the depth of their souls they had no right to in the first place. In selling their souls to “the devil”, they have sold their freedom; the freedom to vote according to their conscience for the common good of society. They have sold their loyalties for their own immediate personal interests and in turn, cursed the good of the nation. I still yearn for the Maltese and Gozitans to recover their true political sovereignty and vote according to the real common good of society: free from oppressive enslavement to the past and that of their personal interests.

Victor Galea
AD Spokesperson for Gozo
Gharb

Jurassic parkers

Last weekend I happen to be at a club in Ta' Qali with some friends. We arrived at Ta' Qali at about midnight. As soon as we tried parking in a road leading to this club, my friend told me not to park there as the parker would ask you for 50c for the parking.  This road seemed a government property to me. We went straight ahead and found another parking space. Another parker came and asked us for 75c for the parking.  At this point I asked him whether he had a parker's permit, and he told me he did not but the field was his. Although the road leading to his “field” (which was transformed into a money making car park) seemed to be government property we were still asked to pay for the parking, which we did. On moving closer to the club, we found a couple of parking spaces, this time managed by somebody else with a large sign saying Lm1.50 for parking. At this point I have a couple of questions to ask.

1. Is it legal for a parker to ask for money especially on government area?  

2. What are the regulations for transforming a piece of land into a car park?

3. What is by law defined as a car park and what safety features and requirements need to be adhered to?

4. Can everyone be a parker and demand money?

5. Can everybody transform his land or field into a money making car park?

6. Does a parker need to give a receipt?

7. Does a parker need to issue a VAT receipt and do they need to declare this money they request as part of their income?

8. Who is responsible for control of such activity and what are the local responsible authorities doing to control such abusive behaviour?

Dr Renald Blundell
B’Kara

 

 

 

 

 

 



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