Dr GonziPn and Dr MuscatPl, I have one question. What are your plans to return requisitioned properties to their rightful owners?

In 1974 the government requisitioned all empty properties from owners so the government in return could rent these premises to people who needed a rental place to live in.

The owners did not have much choice in this matter because the government at that time saw fit to accommodate its constituents. Of course rent was determined by the government and at the time we were awarded the sum of Lm19 a year, like it or not.

Last year the courts awarded the sum of €185 a year rent to the owners in a particular case. I am sure you are familiar with the case of the Rabat couple who passed through the same ordeal. Finally the court ruled in favour of the owners and ordered the tenants to vacate the premises in three months so the owners could get their property back. Since the government was the one that at the time forcefully requisitioned these properties, it should be the government who should return these properties back to the owners without making us having to go to court. The PN had the chance to change this barbaric law but instead they implemented a half-baked system and let the second generation occupy this property. I understand there are approximat- ely 4,000 cases like this one and if you want to correct a wrong that was done by the MLP, you can promise to make amends and help us get our property back so we can enjoy our parents’ inheritance.

It was wrong then, and it is wrong now to condone such atrocities by the government. These are different times and we are still living under those barbaric laws. If the government wants to help correct this injustice they can find another place for these tenants to live and free our property. My family had found a buyer for the place but he immediately pulled out of the deal and changed his mind as soon as he learned that the property was occupied by such a tenant who is still protected by the present regime. The tenant occupying this property is 68 years of age and has a daughter living with her who is 38 years old. Under the current law, when the mother dies the daughter is entitled to live there until she dies. That means my siblings and I will all be gone since most of us are over 60 years old. This is for real and very hard to believe!

So Dr Gonzi and Dr Muscat what are your thoughts on this matter? I contacted the Housing Authority and they informed me that there is nothing they can do. At this point it does not matter who and which political party did what and when, what does matter is that these properties are returned to their rightful owners now. Gentlemen I would like to see this wrong corrected before I die and since I am up there in age I intend to fight for what is rightfully mine.

■ Joseph Calleja

Mellieha