The last eviction notice received by the Bingemma Fort occupiers was a week prior to the general election, in March 2022, Steve Buttigieg said in response to Lands Minister Silvio Schembri’s claim that the eviction process has already started.

Steve Buttigieg currently resides together with his mother and partner at the Bingemma Fort. In an interview with The Malta Independent on Sunday last June, he had said that family continued to pay rent even when it started to receive eviction notices in 2009 and “we will not move until we are offered another decent place to stay” which fits into the family lifestyle..

In comments to this newsroom today, he said that he is still paying rent through the courts. In terms of accommodation, he said that the family need a suitable accommodation which also allows them to keep their several animals, thus an apartment will not do.

Last Tuesday, in Parliament, PN MP Rebekah Borg asked Lands Minister Silvio Schembri to indicate how long communication between the Housing Authority and the Lands Authority has been ongoing "as part of efforts so that people occupying Fort Bingemma illegally are found alternative accommodation before being evicted."

Minister Schembri said that the Lands Authority communicates frequently with the Housing Authority so that in cases of eviction like this, solutions are found that don't leave individuals without a roof over their head.

"In this case, the eviction process already began, and in this there will be the assistance of the Housing Authority in the case that alternative accommodation needs to be found for certain individuals." He said this sill be done according to policies and procedures that exist.

In a response to a separate question by Borg, Social Housing Minister Roderick Galdes said that the Housing Authority doesn't have any application for alternative accommodation from the people occupying Fort Bingemma.