It is highly unusual to have Opposition MPs strongly and assiduously defend a government deal in which a private developer is literally handed over public land for free. Nationalist Party MP Alex Borg did just that and even voted in favor of such a deal at the Parliamentary National Audit Committee. Alex Borg defended the government’s deal with Michael Caruana (Il-Bili) over Fort chambray and even defended the deal with a long statement on social media.
The original deal by a Nationalist government was very generous and basically gave Michael Caruana free use of Fort chambray to turn it into a touristic site with a hotel and some residences. The Labour government now is giving Michael Caruana even more parts of the fort, including historical buildings like the British Barracks, it is allowing him to demolish them, or “incorporate them” with his own buildings, and is even giving him free possession of the land, including the part where the hotel is built, including the right to sell it to third-parties.
The deal seems to be scandalous at a first glance so it is incredibly strange that an Opposition MP would strongly defend it. One of the excuses Alex Borg gave for his defense is that the developer has now been obliged to restore the fortification walls himself.
The government contract for which Alex Borg voted in favour says the complete opposite:
Basically, the government is handing over a historic fortification to a private developer who will turn it into a hotel and private residents and the government will be obliged to keep the maintenance costs.
I’m a bit amazed at how the Nationalist Party and Alex Borg are getting away with this. The deal in itself is already scandalous: the government has just handed over a historic fortification to a private developer, basically free of charge. A Nationalist MP who voted for the deal in a parliamentary committee is lying about it in public and writing it. Yet, Alex Borg is sitting for interviews with some dubious editors as if he has something important to say. His behaviour and talking points always struck me as a village politician who is being sponsored by real-estate developers. Surely, he yaps and defends them as if his life depends on it.
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