The Malta Tourism Authority declared that it was not aware that the former consultant to the MTA chairman on Product Development George Micallef was also acting as a consultant to the Mistra Bay development application.

The MTA issued a statement on Thursday following the harsh report published on Monday by Malta Environment and Planning Authority audit officer Joe Falzon on the highly controversial development application for an outdoor disco at Mistra Bay.

In his report, Mr Falzon had harsh words for the MTA for issuing a report, that was found to be very similar to the one submitted by the project applicant, endorsing and pushing forward the development.

As soon as the report was published on Monday, Mr Micallef resigned from the MTA with immediate effect – “which resignation was accepted by the MTA”.

In its statement, the MTA stated that the application was never referred to the MTA chairman or board members and added that it was not aware that Mr Micallef was also “the consultant of the applicant for the said Mistra Bay development project”.

The authority also said that it is standard practice for “potential tourism establishment development applications submitted to Mepa to be referred to the Malta Tourism Authority by Mepa, for the MTA’s views and comments”.

Its replies are “based on considerations related to MTA policies on tourism product needs and requirements. These are standard operating procedures and such applications are dealt with routinely by the MTA’s Product directorate.”

Finally, the authority said that it will hold a complete review of procedures when processing similar applications to ensure that it is done in the most transparent way possible.