The government has expropriated a small property on the hill leading to the Cittadella for €460,000 which independent architects have valued at a maximum of no more than €300,000.
The property in question is a narrow three-storey building with a footprint of 93 square metres in the Telgha tal-Belt in Victoria. It was originally owned by Guzepp Vella Muskat, a former Labour candidate. The heirs, his seven children, include the late Victor Vella Muskat, a former secretary of the Civic Council who was made Gozo Secretary by Dom Mintoff, and George Vella Muskat, a well-known Labour activist. The former’s son, Keith Vella Muskat, works at the Gozo Ministry’s Construction and Maintenance Unit and contested the local council elections on the PL ticket in 2006. He has also been mentioned in connection with work carried out by ministry workers in private properties over the past two years, under the tenure of Gozo Minister Anton Refalo.
Property not worth more than €300,000 – independent architects
The announcement of the expropriation was first made in the 6th May issue of the Government Gazette. The government architect, Joseph H. Spiteri, valued the land at €460,000 based on the “characteristics and locality of the site, the structure thereon constructed, and use zoning in Gozo and Comino Local Plan and other contributory factors from assessments carried out”. Joseph H. Spiteri is one of the architects who, according to independent experts, undervalued the land given to Marco Gaffarena in the Old Mint Street scandal.
However, two independent architects who were asked for a valuation by The Malta Independent on Sunday said the government should not have paid more than €300,000 for the property. One of them suggested that the price should not have been higher than €280,000. They insisted that the value of the expropriation was on the “high side” and, even when considering the location and the development potential, which is somewhat limited, the value should not have been raised so much. “The government basically paid more than the market value when usually the sum offered for expropriations is less,” one of them said.
Mepa has received a planning application for the building in question – a request for change of use from residential to offices Class 4A (Citadel Management & Administration). A source said the government could have housed the committee in any of a number of properties it owns inside the walled city and it made no sense to buy a private property for half a million euro instead. “This is more ridiculous when considering that this committee is all about the Cittadella project. Why opt for a private property that is outside the Citadel walls?”
Furthermore, the government intends to demolish the top level of the property after having paid for it. Mepa’s Heritage Advisory Committee has already favoured the application given that the demolition of the second floor will “expose even further the Cittadella views.”
Average price per square metre in Victoria far lower
The compensation given for the three-storey property works out at €4,946 per square metre – a sum that is considerably higher than the average for comparable properties in the area. For example, a nearby property with a plot size of 83 square meters, which includes four bedrooms and a one-car garage, is on the market for the price of €120,000.
Another property, with a plot measuring 150sq.m is priced at €248,000. This particular property has three bedrooms, an external area of 100 square metres and a full roof with views of the Citadel. The average price per square meter in Victoria, calculated on the value of 10 properties, is close to €2,400 but the government paid double that amount for the property in question.
Huge discrepancies in land valuation
The expropriation project is part of the Cittadella Master Plan. In fact, a reservoir built during the British era, which is right next to the property, will be redeveloped into a visitor centre. The three-storey property does not fit into the Masterplan.
Apart from the 93sq.m property, a total of seven plots were expropriated inside the Cittadella but it seems that a different yardstick was used when calculating the value of one of them. An exercise carried out by this paper shows that the owners of six of the properties were paid €132 to €138 per square metre in the expropriation exercise.
However, the owners of the small 34sq. m plot inside the Citadel (Plot G) were paid €1,764 per square metre. The only difference between this property and the rest is that it is a small structure while the rest are fields. A source insisted, however, that this did not justify why the price per square metre was 10 times that of the other plots.
Sources explained that the value of land inside the Citadel walls should never be valued as such a high price seeing that the owners can only sell to the government and their properties do not really have a ‘market value’.
Minister declined to name owners
Former President Agatha Barbara had passed a law barring private land owners at Cittadella from selling to third parties, meaning they could only sell to the government. This was intended to transfer all lands inside the Cittadella to the government. The move, considered by some owners to be unfair, threw the concept of commercial or market prices out of the window. The sources said that there was no explanation why the 34 sq.m plot was expropriated for such a high price. They also noted that one particular plot – Plot C – has a surface area of almost 500 square metres (14 times larger than Plot G) but the price given for the expropriation was roughly the same (€67,000).
Since the start of the legislature, Gozo Minister Anton Refalo has twice been asked – by means of a PQ – to state who the owners of the plots of land expropriated in the Cittadella are. While he has given some information, the minister has, on both occasions declined to name the owners.
Description Expropriation value Price per sq.m Location
Plot A Land 167sqm €22,000 €131 inside Cittadella
Plot B Land 914sqm €125,000 €136 inside Cittadella
Plot C Land 487sqm €67,000 €137 inside Cittadella
Plot D Land 692sqm €94,000 €135 inside Cittadella
Plot E Land 1,054sqm €144,000 €136 inside Cittadella
Plot F Land 152sqm €21,000 €138 inside Cittadella
Plot G Land + building 34sqm €60,000 €1,764 inside Cittadella
Plot H Land + building 93sqm €460,000 €4,946 outside Cittadella