Updated - Adds comment by Parliamentary Secretary Ian Borg - An Ombudsman report about Mepa permits on a property in Rabat has been handed to the Commission Against Corruption and kept under wraps.

The report was drawn up by the Environment and Planning Commissioner within the Office of the Ombudsman.

It focused on the application of policies and procedures during the processing of an application by Mepa. 

Informed sources said that the property under investigation is connected to Parliamentary Secretary Ian Borg, but the Ombudsman refused to reveal names.

Ian Borg

In a comment to Times of Malta, Dr Borg said: "Way back when all this started, I had welcomed this investigation, and I still await its outcome. I have no problem with all of this being investigated."

He added that he himself was not listed as the permit applicant.

The Ombudsman said that last June, his office received a complaint alleging incorrect processing and determination of a development application on a site in Rabat.  

Following a review of the complaint, it transpired that complainant did not have the requisite personal interest for his complaint to be investigated.  

"However, the issues raised in the complaint were considered by the Ombudsman and the Commissioner for Environment and Planning to be of general public interest, and already in the public domain. The Commissioner was of the opinion that the complaint raised issues on the interpretation and application of planning regulations that merited an own-initiative investigation."

Meanwhile the Office of the Ombudsman was made aware that the Commission against Corruption was also investigating the same complaint.

The commission, however, lacked the resources to investigate the technical issues relating to building regulations. It was therefore agreed that the Commissioner for Environment and Planning, architect David Pace, would proceed with his own-initiative investigation focusing solely on technical aspects of the issues raised, namely the application of policies and procedures during the processing and determination of an application.

It was also agreed that once the investigation is concluded, the report of the Commissioner for Environment and Planning would be made available to the Commission Against Corruption for its information and guidance.