Bonnici awaits land waiver revaluation before commenting on Fortina-Bet 365 sale

Lands Minister Owen Bonnici said he will wait for the conclusion of a fresh evaluation before commenting on reports that Fortina sold parts of its seafront Sliema real estate for a massive profit, weeks after it paid the government for the waiver of development restrictions.

“I’ll leave the process of valuation about the waiver in front of the verification committee for it to be concluded before commenting. That way I will not say anything that can be interpreted to be of one opinion or another,” he said.

Bonnici, who was handed the Lands portfolio for the first time this year, was speaking after Amphora Media reported that in 2019 Fortina converted an €8.1 million waiver it paid the government on development restrictions into a €40 million sale to Bet365 weeks later.

Fortina had bought the land from the government some three decades ago, on condition that it develop it only for tourism purposes. But in 2019, parliament greenlit an agreement to allow the company to also build apartments, shops and offices on site.

Fortina paid €8.1 million for that waiver. It had originally paid €250,000 for the deed to the land in 1996.

On Wednesday, Amphora reported that the Fortina group sold a parcel of that land to Bet365 for €40 million.

Asked about the sale on Wednesday Bonnici said there is now a procedure in front of parliament’s verification committee to revalue the land, he said.

In October, the parliamentary committee ordered the Lands Authority to return to the drawing board and carry out a fresh valuation of the Fortina waiver.

That decision came following a bombshell Auditor General report, which concluded that Fortina underpaid for the waiver by up to €12.5 million.