PN defends Għargħur fort lease amid local council turmoil

Claims by a Għargħur councillor, formerly of the PN, that a deal to sub-lease a fort in the locality will leave residents without access are untrue, the Nationalist Party said Friday, amid political unrest taking over the sleepy town's local council.  

“What was reported that the legal contract says residents have no right to use the tower is untrue,” said PN College of Councillors president Liam Sciberras. 

Last week PN councillor Francesca Attard resigned from her party but kept her seat on the five-seat council.  

Her resignation means the Nationalist Party no longer has a majority in the locality that saw 62 per cent of voters choose candidaates fielded by PN during last June’s elections.  

Attard has so far declined to say whether she will seek to remove mayor Helen Gauci in a vote of no-confidence with the council's two PL members. 

She initially did not specify reasons for her decision other than wanting to work “free from political pressure”.  

But later, Attard said she was concerned about a sub-leasing deal that saw an NGO "from outside the village" take over the running of the historical Għargħur fort for 15 years.  

“In the contract mentioned between the Council and the NGO, there is no clause that safeguards the community and the Council itself with regard to the free use of this historic building”. 

But on Friday, alongside Għargħur mayor Helen Gauci, PN councillor Marilena Hassan and the PN’s director of local councillors, Emvin Bartolo, Sciberras said this was not true. Scibberas pointed specifically to clause six in the lease agreement contract.  

Clause six of the agreement, seen by Times of Malta, states the leased space should be used for community purposes, and that the NGO handed the lease – Don Bosco Foundation – cannot charge people for using the space. 

Clause six of the Sub-leasing contract.

The foundation says its main purpose is to support social projects aimed at promoting the welfare of youth. 

“The Sublessee is to utilise the premises as a centre for outdoor learning and creativity for the community,” the contract says. 

“The Sublessee shall be precluded from charging any fees or donations”.

Helen Gauci said claims made by Attard that the agreement with the NGO was made behind the back of the Għargħur council were untrue.  

She said the agreement signed in October 2023 received unanimous support from the council, including PL councillor Christopher Fenech, who remains a councillor today.