A Valletta shop owner who lost a bagful of business when the City Gate regeneration project forced him to move has been awarded €217,280 in damages, after a court found that the Lands Authority had broken a contractual deal with him.

Raphael Briffa had been promised a suitable alternative location for his family business selling bags and suitcases, which was based in Valletta since 1948. 

That promise never materialised, leading Mr Briffa to file a civil suit against the authority. 

His family business had first been housed within a premises underlying the former Royal Opera House on Republic Street.

As rumours swirled that the government planned to regenerate the City Gate and surrounding area, the Briffa family bought a second outlet at the former City Gate Arcades on Freedom Square. 

However, in the run up to the Valletta regeneration project, all tenants were evicted from the shopping arcade, which is where the present-day Parliament building is located, and the Briffa family ended up forfeiting both shops.

A government compensation scheme for the affected traders meant that the applicant’s family received €200,000 for the Freedom Square outlet and an alternative outlet within the arcades, on the opposite side of the square, to replace their flagship store beneath the Royal Opera House.

That was problematic, though. Situated in a remote corner of the arcades, the alternative store received little foot traffic and the applicant missed out on passing trade. Plans to regenerate those arcades, including installing an escalator to increase the flow of shoppers to the area, never materialised.

Concerned, the family turned to the Lands Department, which promised them the right of first refusal on a lease of a shop on Ordnance Street when an existing lease ended. 

The parties signed an agreement, but years passed and the Lands Authority did not issue a call for offers for the shop. 

The First Hall, Civil Court, presided over by Mr Justice Lawrence Mintoff, declared that it was not for the court to decide on the termination or otherwise of the current lease of the Ordnance Street outlet.

Doing so would probably prejudice the livelihood of third parties who had nothing to do with the dispute between the applicant and the authorities, the Court observed.

However, on the basis of evidence put forward, the applicant’s claim for damages was justified since the Lands Authority had failed to provide the adequate alternative promised as compensation for the takeover of the applicant’s Republic Street store. 

The court thus awarded €200,000-the maximum compensation offered under the former scheme- together with an additional €17,280 to cover the cost of inflation over nine years.