Ħamrun's San Gejtanu band club has become the latest to be spared eviction after the government agreed to a €2.8 million deal to buy the property the club was renting. 

Culture Minister Owen Bonnici announced on Tuesday a promise of sale agreement between the arts council and the private owners of the St Joseph High Street property.  

It is the latest in a government plan to protect band clubs facing eviction due to legal issues with rent laws. The government has six other ongoing promise-of-sale agreements and has already bought five clubs.  

Bonnici said the €2.8 million for the 1,300 square metre property was "not a small investment" but worth "every cent of that amount".  The acquisition strategy aims to protect the cultural significance of band clubs in towns and villages across Malta and Gozo. 

Having purchased the property, the government will now lease it back to the band club, allowing them to continue basing themselves there.

Ensuring band clubs have their own premises means protecting the Maltese feast, which is not just an integral part of national heritage but also world heritage, Bonnici said.  

"If anyone had doubts whether the festa is important or not, today it is recognised by UNESCO as part of the world's Intangible Cultural Heritage," he said.

Three other deals were finalised last month. The sale of Birkirkara's Duke of Connaught's Own Band Club alone cost €4.5 million. 

In total, the government will have spent €19 million to buy the 12 band clubs. 

Many band clubs faced an existential crisis after a series of court judgments declared that rent laws dating back to 1995 breached owners' right to enjoy their property.

That threatened the existence of 23 band clubs.  

On Tuesday, Bonnici said that the government would continue working to "save" more band clubs.   

"We haven't given up on saving more band clubs because we have a positive mindset and are set on saving them," he said. 

"We will keep doing the best we can, using the best talent in this country and the best legal minds of the government to keep saving these clubs."