Planning Authority board member Matthew Pace should “respect” a court decision which found he had a conflict of interest, Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg said on Monday.
The minister was asked by Times of Malta what action would be taken after a court decided that Mr Pace had a conflict of interest in the controversial db Group City Centre project in Pembroke.
“Well, I haven’t received any resignations whatsoever. I always say that everyone, be it me myself, the government, the public, or anyone, should always respect any court decision, even Matthew Pace,” he said.
The responsibility to ask for a board member’s resignation rests with the minister responsible.
However, Dr Borg said only that he expected the businessman to heed the court’s ruling when pressed on the matter.
Mr Pace is a franchise owner of Remax Alliance Swieqi, which was selling apartments in the City Centre project even before the planning permit had been granted, The Shift News had revealed.
As a Planning Authority board member, Mr Pace voted in favour of the project being approved, with the vote being approved by 10 votes to four.
Last week, a court nullified that decision, finding that Mr Pace had a conflict of interest and should have recused himself.
PA biding its time
Meanwhile, PA head Johann Buttigieg said the authority was still deciding what course of action to take following the court's decision.
There was a window of time in which the PA could decide what to do in such a scenario, and the authority intended to make full use of that window, he said.
Sources in the authority told Times of Malta that the court ruling opened a Pandora’s box of problems.
“There are huge ramifications for us here. What if other applications start facing issues of conflict of interest? Then there is this particular case, involving db, what is going to happen with this project? This could have implications that effect the whole sector,” a senior source in the PA said.
As the authority grapples with the court ruling, db’s Group’s owner Silvio Debono is doing much the same. The tycoon last week told Times of Malta he was considering his legal options. One possibility, sources said, was that the businessman would opt to take legal action against the authority.