PN and Chris Bonett clash over Santa Luċija civic centre claims

The Opposition Nationalist Party has accused Transport Minister Chris Bonett of "manipulating" Santa Luċija local council “for personal gain”, saying he is pushing the council to build a civic centre on fresh ground using government funds.

In a statement Wednesday, the PN said that in a recent council meeting, the locality’s mayor had “clearly stated” the project was being pushed by Bonett, who it said was “willing to push for the project to be financed by the government”.

Responding to the claims, however, Bonett “categorically denied the baseless and incorrect allegations” in a statement issued by his ministry saying the council had been requesting government funds for the project for more than 30 years.

Attaching an image of what it said was communication between the ministry and the council – that it said proved the funds had been requested and a consultation period agreed – the ministry derided the PN claims as “spin” and "baseless attacks”.

In its earlier statement, the PN said its minority leader in Santa Luċija, Liam Sciberras, had proposed the civic centre should “not be built on virgin land as proposed by the minister” but on an alternative site.

Widening its criticism, the Opposition said the government had appeared to “take control” of local councils, "treating them as mere tools to cover up its many failures.”

"After years of tightening the councils’ resources, the government is now using its power to extract whatever it wants from them. Having stripped them of all authority, it now wants them to dance to its tune.”

Seeming to cast aspersions on a PL member of the council, whom it said was employed in Bonett’s secretariat and suggested could be using their role to the minister's advantage, the PN said it hoped PL councillors worked “for the good of the residents and the locality, not to act as canvassers for the minister.”

In a strong rebuttal, the Transport, Infrastructure and Public Works Ministry said it and the rest of government had “always used an ‘open door’ policy with all councils, regardless of political composition”.

It said the PN’s “attack on the minister and on this project” showed the party would make a distinction between councils if governing the country, “as it already did when it was in government”.

The ministry attached a screenshot of what it said was correspondence between it and the council, appearing to show a message typed by Santa Luċija council executive secretary Bernice Darmanin.

An image of what the ministry said was direct communication between it and the council, which it said disproved the PN claims.

“The minister informed us that the works will be taken care of by them. The mayor informed the minister that there is currently an online form for residents’ comments”, the correspondence read.

It said a “consultation meeting” would be held, with the council making the final decision on the project, noting a memorandum of understanding would be signed and a tender issued once the plans were approved.

“From our end, we need to provide the Minister with a copy of the minutes of the meeting where the plans and the location are confirmed," it said.