Parliamentary Secretary for Planning Michael Falzon failed to declare he signed the Gaffarena Mint Street property deal when the case first came to light some two weeks ago but only said so on Thursday after the PN questioned whether it was the Prime Minister himself who had signed it or another politician.

On Thursday, Dr Falzon issued a press statement stating that it was he who signed the Mint Street property expropriation as per usual procedure since it is his parliamentary secretariat which is responsible for the Government Property Division.

This statement was issued soon after the PN held an on-site news conference at Qormi – the locality where Mr Gaffarena seems to have been ‘given’ more parcels of land.

The PN asked whether it was the Prime Minister himself or another politician who signed the controversial expropriations of land involving Mr Gaffarena since it is not a civil servant who has the final say but a politician in such cases.

Two weeks ago, when the case came to light, Dr Falzon insisted during a news conference that there was no political interference in the case.

Dr Falzon had said normal legal procedures had been followed and the amount paid to the part-owner, Mr Gaffarena, was the fair amount based on the estimate of various architects. But at no point did he say he signed the expropriation documents.

This newsroom sent questions to Dr Falzon and asked him why he hadn’t said he signed the expropriation deal at the time and only admitted he did so on Thursday since not many people out there know that it is his secretariat which is responsible for the GPD.

Apart from the fact that he reiterated that everything was done according to normal procedure, he said once again that all expropriations, of all departments, are signed by the Parliamentary Secretariat responsible for GPD. He did not answer our direct question.

When asked if the government was shifting the blame on the GPD architects, since the press release stated that it is they who evaluated the property, he said that this was not the case.

“The government is simply stating the fact that GPD and eventually the government rely on the professional advice of architects.

“In this case the architects in question are the same ones previously relied on by the previous Nationalist administration, in one case appointed under Jason Azzopardi's own headship,” he said.

Dr Falzon did not say however which case he was referring to involving Dr Azzopardi.

Currently, two investigations are under way which are looking into the Mint Street property expropriation deal – one by the Auditor General and the other by the Internal Audit Investigation Department.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has said that the conclusions of both the investigations will be published.