Updated 5 pm 

Two Santa Luċija councillors have filed a judicial protest demanding the termination of a lease agreement between the local football club and a car rental company, allowing the company to take over a site previously available for public parking.

The judicial protest comes after Times of Malta reported residents' anger after scores of rental cars took over an area of land next to Santa Luċija's football pitch.

Later on Friday, the Santa Luċija council said it is also putting pressure on SportMalta to get the cars removed.

This follows after an agreement made between Santa Luċija Football Club and Princess Operation Ltd on July 25.

Barriers now block the entrance to the site previously available for public parking, restricting access solely to vehicles belonging to Sicily by Car. 

PN councillors Liam Sciberras and Connie Debattista said the agreement violated a prior concession agreement signed in 2013 with SportMalta, which prohibited the football club from transferring any part of the land to third parties.

They also urged that the site be reserved exclusively for sporting purposes as per original agreement.

Sciberras and Debattista also condemned 'the lack of transparency and secrecy surrounding the third-party agreement which was conducted without public disclosure.'

It “was done abusively, illegally, and without the authorisation of SportMalta”, they said.

The judicial protest was signed by Nicolai Bugeja.

The Italian car rental franchise is run in Malta by Princess Holdings Ltd, a company owned and directed by car rental entrepreneur Christian Borg, who appeared in court last month to face charges of money laundering and tax fraud.  

Borg was also arrested last year and charged in connection with a botched abduction. 

Council wants cars removed from parking area

In a statement, the Santa Luċija local council said it is pressuring SportMalta to ensure that all cars belonging to Sicily by Car are removed from the parking area adjacent to the town’s football ground.

They said that SportMalta had already contacted the club by official letter but the recipient, the club’s secretary, informed the entity that he had since resigned. 

The council is now informed that SportMalta will be sending another official letter to the President of Santa Lucia FC, Adrian Gomez, in order to address the illegality in the parking area. 

“If Santa Lucia FC does not comply with the instructions given by SportMalta, further steps will be taken enforcing the removal of all illegalities and cars from the parking area,” it said.