Following further investigations, The Maltese Herald can confirm the number of Nationalist Party Members of Parliament who oppose the Fort Chambray Project. The PN MPs who oppose the free handover of the historic site to a group of developers to turn it into a high-end luxury resort are:
Beppe Fenech Adami
Chris Said
Rebekah Borg
Graham Bencini
Claudette Buttigieg
Karol Aquilina
Ryan Callus
Darren Carabott
Ivan Bartolo
Albert Buttigieg
Ivan Castillo
Stanley Zammit
Julie Zahra
A total of 13 PN MPs out of 35 oppose the project. Some of these MPs have also complained how the Nationalist Party leadership is taking on Alex Borg’s position on Fort Chambray. The PN Leader Bernard Grech is also being criticised internally for being unable to control his firebrand MP.
In another twist to this story, the Nationalist Party released a statement condemning the NGOs for condemning Alex Borg. NGOs have slammed Alex Borg for promoting the Fort Chambray project with disinformation. The Maltese Herald can confirm that the PN’s statement was issued without any consultation with the current PN Gozitan election candidates. Some PN MPs have also condemned the arbitrary issue of this press release without discussing it with the parliamentary group.
In their statement, the PN leadership defended Alex Borg and said that the Opposition had officially agreed with the Fort Chambray project. They also defended Alex Borg’s false historical information and denied that Alex Borg was lying about the project (Alex Borg explicitly lied about the project when he said that the private investors were going to pay for the restoration walls themselves). Alex Borg also used the government’s own narrative and rhetoric on the project by saying that Fort Chambray was used for vacations including by Gozitan Knights. Fort Chambray was a major defense and civilian project that was started in 1749 and was earmarked as a fully-fledged citadel. No Gozitan Knights existed because the Knights of Saint John were foreigners (mostly French and Italian).
PN has accused the NGOs of misquoting Alex Borg, however his words were very clear. An unedited video clip of his interview is being republished below.
Alex Borg is a young and controversial PN MP who expressed his admiration for President Donald Trump and has been accused of having a warm relationship with his Labour adversaries. Recently, he supported the nomination of the new Secretary-General Charles Bonello. He has consistently taken positions in favour of major construction developers that operate in Gozo.
Newsroom
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