The government has declared that it is accepting the opposition's request to have the Auditor General investigate the expropriation of a Valletta property which saw part-owner Mark Gaffarena make a profit of €685,000 in less than two months.

The Sunday Times of Malta had revealed that the government had paid Mr Gaffarena €516,390 in cash and given him land valued at just over €1 million for the property, which houses the offices of the Building Industry Consultative Council chaired by government MP Charles Buhagiar. The Times, however, also commissioned architects to carry out an independent valuation of the land provided to Mr Gaffarena, and found that this land was worth at least twice the government's own valuation.

The Nationalist Party asked to investigate the deal to determine, among other things, whether the deal was good value for money, whether a dangerous precedent was being set concerning properties rented out to the government, and whether Mr Gaffarena personally selected the land offered to him.

In response, the Parliamentary Secretariat responsible for lands said that the government welcomed all types of scrutiny, and promised to fully cooperate with the National Audit Office in its investigations.