The press statements released by Infrastructure Minister Ninu Zammit and Acting Prime Minister Tonio Borg over compensation granted to the former for a piece of land in front of his house raises many doubts, said Opposition Leader Alfred Sant.

He commented that while Dr Borg said Minister Zammit was paid according to a procedure started in 1993, Minister Zammit said his land was expropriated in 1987.

The Malta Labour Party leader asked how it was that the 1993 procedure was applied to a 1987 expropriation. Furthermore, he asked, how was Minister Zammit paid Lm70,000 less than two years after he applied for compensation while there were thousands of citizens who still awaited compensation? Why did the Transport Authority make an expropriation request for property that was already expropriated? How was the property valued and interest calculated?

Dr Sant urged Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi to give an explanation, as the people only understood one thing – a friend gets what he wants while others end up in an alley.

This notion, said the Opposition Leader, was further confirmed by Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono’s defence of Mario Camilleri, an official accused of falsifying a scholastic certificate.

This scenario of abuse and preference was disgusting the majority of the Maltese, both Labourites and Nationalists, said Dr Sant, adding that the Maltese believed in transparency and in judging on facts not words.