Following the government's registration of some 4.4 kilometres of foreshore at Fomm ir-Riħ, Ġnejna and Mġarr Malta, several people claimed ownership of areas of the land.

Answering a parliamentary question by Charles Buhagiar (PL), Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said the government had received written claims of ownership, saying that parts of the registered land effectively had belonged to their respective families for several generations.

The claims had been accompanied by several documents as proof, which were very voluminous and complex, including wills and contracts of sale and purchase in Maltese, English, Italian and Latin going back to the 17th century.

All this necessitated extensive academic studies and research in the archives of the Civil Courts.

Minister Fenech said that because the government needed to give urgent answers to verify or otherwise the purported owners' claims, it had appointed Peter Caruana Galizia, an expert in jurisprudence on the subject matter, as well as an expert from the Institute of First-born brought forward by the alleged owners, to give legal advice to the government's Property Division on how valid the claims were with regard to which tracts of land.

The legal advice of Dr Caruana Galizia led to a solution of how the government had preserved its title to the foreshore.

He was paid €295, including 18 per cent VAT.