One of new Nationalist Party leader Alex Borg’s first acts in Parliament on Monday was to call for the appointment of a public inquiry into changes in the land conditions granted to the company Fortina – changes which the NAO said in a report earlier in the day that the government had severely undervalued.

Borg spoke in Parliament in a debate on the matter – a debate which was initially opposed by the government, then rejected by the Speaker, but then accepted by the government regardless – on Monday afternoon.

The NAO report found that the government had pushed through a parliamentary resolution to remove conditions on land acquired by the Fortina Group which saw the private sector entity pay millions less than what an audit firm had valued.

It also found that the audit valuation was kept hidden – meaning that taxpayers were short-changed by €16 million.

At the start of Monday’s sitting, new PN leader Alex Borg requested for parliament to conduct an urgent debate on the Auditor General’s report on how public land was allocated to the Fortina Hotel, which Borg described as an urgent situation which necessitated immediate discussion.

Borg requested for parliament’s plenary to suspend itself and discuss the NAO’s report, which he said was a very serious matter where further investigation has been requested by the NAO due to failures in safeguarding the national interest.

Government Whip Naomi Cachia contested the urgent nature of the request, as she remarked that the report in question was only issued minutes prior to being the source of the Opposition’s urgent request. She questioned how a written request could have been prepared in due time.

Borg replied that the report was issued at the start of the session, which had begun around 45 minutes prior.

He made the request shortly following his first speech in Parliament as the Leader of the Opposition, during which he thanked the Maltese and Gozitan people for their support in what he referred to as a new chapter for the Opposition. He continued that this is a crucial moment during which a new chapter has also begun in the way in which politics are conducted in Malta, speaking again on the need for national unity and for politics to work towards the national interest and the common good.

The PN Leader remarked that the Opposition will speak up wherever there are shortcomings from the government, and continued that the PN wants to continue offering a strong vision for an alternative government while projecting itself as a government in the making.

Deputy Prime Minister Ian Borg spoke after the PN Leader, and said that the Opposition has a duty to oppose by definition, but added that there are areas where both sides of parliament can work hand in hand in the interests of the Maltese and Gozitan people. He also thanked former PN Leader Bernard Grech, as well as Adrian Delia.

The sitting was suspended following the request, and upon the session’s return, Speaker Anglu Farrugia said that the Opposition’s request had been considered, and it was ultimately decided that the request would be denied.

Farrugia said that while the matter was certainly of public importance, it however lacked the element of urgency required by the standing orders to disrupt parliament’s duties. With that said, the Speaker urged the relevant authorities to address the report’s conclusions and recommendations.

Following the Speaker’s decision, the PN Leader asked for the government to determine a date when this discussion could take place, and Cachia responded that despite the Speaker’s decision, the government would be happy to conduct a discussion on the matter during that same parliamentary session.

Borg calls on Commissioner of Police to immediately investigate scandal

The PN meanwhile said in a statement that Parliament had opened with a new condemnation from the Auditor General, “confirming yet another theft by the Labour Government from public funds.”

“All this dates back to 2019, when the Government brought before Parliament a resolution to lift restrictions on the Fortina Hotel site. The PN had strongly opposed this resolution,” the party said.

“At the time the PN had warned that the agreement went against the public interest and voted against the resolution in Parliament, as it had also done in the Parliamentary National Audit Office Accounts Committee that discussed this resolution and it had opposed the agreement,” the party added.

The PN said that it was maintaining its original position when it had said that this agreement was seriously damaging to the public interest, with the loss of millions of euro and once again compromised governance.

Like the National Audit Office, the PN insisted that the granting of this land merits further investigation.

The PN referred to the request for an urgent debate, saying that the government first objected and then accepted an hour later.

“In his intervention in Parliament, the Leader of the PN appealed to the Government to immediately open a public inquiry into this agreement, while carrying out all necessary investigations. He also called on the Commissioner of Police to immediately investigate this scandal, and said that he expects the country’s authorities to do their duty as the people demand in such cases,” the party said.

“While Robert Abela’s Government often speaks about transparency, accountability, and good governance, it is evident that what it says in words it contradicts in deeds,” the party added.

“While you are paying through the nose to buy your first property, the Government has no qualms about giving away our land for a third of its value to its inner circle – millions stolen from each and every one of us which, instead, could have been invested in better healthcare services for our sick and elderly, better educational facilities for our children, and improvements in our road infrastructure so that you and I can enjoy a better quality of life,” it concluded.

Nationalist Party MP Darren Carabott spoke of how the NAO had declared within the report that the government failed the people. He commented that experts had told the government to be careful, and continued that pointing at the Lands Authority rather than politicians is dangerous and could lead to entities and authorities being utilised to forego responsibility.

PN MP Adrian Delia remarked that the as the Lands Authority is a government entity, then it must be the government which politically answers for the shortcomings of government entities. Fellow PN MP Beppe Fenech Adami commented that the government attempted to discredit the Auditor General and attempted to appear as if they are in the right rather than apologise.

Alex Borg following in Bernard Grech’s footsteps – PL

In a statement meanwhile, the Labour Party said that Alex Borg – whom they referred to as the fifth PN leader in 12 years – had continued in the tradition of those who came before him: “the politics of feet stamping.”

The Party said that Borg hadn’t even finished his first intervention in Parliament as Opposition Leader before he interrupted the first plenary session of Parliament after the summer break which was meant to discuss an important reform on road safety.

“Instead, he wanted to discuss a 200-page report which was published a few minutes before,” the PL said.

The PL said that the government had already answered on the report and has no difficulty in continuing to answer.  It said that even though the Speaker denied a request for an urgent debate, the government showed it was ready for any discussion on the report.

“The day shows you what it’s going to be from the morning.  Alex Borg will continue where Bernard Grech left off. He is more of the same,” the PL said.

Lands Minister Owen Bonnici was among those who addressed Parliament during the debate, saying that the Minister and Parliamentary Secretary at the time had been misled – as indicated by the NAO report itself.

He said he was disappointed by the way matters had been handled at the Lands Authority, but added that it was wrong to blame everyone there for what had happened.  He pointed to major reforms since then, including the appointment of a new chairperson and new CEO.

As for the request for a police investigation, Bonnici observed that the “Opposition’s friend” Jason Azzopardi had already filed a police report – so what the PN wanted was already being done.

Deputy Prime Minister Ian Borg said that one should reflect on the Auditor General’s report and see what can be done to improve the work of the authority and parliament.