Selmun Palace restoration tender 'cancelled', finance minister says
Restoration works estimated to cost over €570,000
Updated 4.08pm
A tender worth an estimated €575,200 for the restoration of Mellieħa’s Selmun Palace has been cancelled, the finance minister has said.
Responding to a parliamentary question from PN MP Graziella Galea yesterday, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said the tender “appears to have been cancelled”, without providing further information.
The tender for the restoration of the Knights-era historic building was lodged in late 2023 and published early last year. It was reportedly meant to cover the restoration of the building’s walls, roof, lighting and water catchment facilities.
The cost of the work was estimated at €575,255, according to tender documentation.
Quizzed about the contract department’s involvement in the project, Caruana said it was to oversee the tendering process “from inception to adjudication”. The department falls under the responsibility of the finance ministry.
In a brief response to questions, a spokesperson for the finance ministry told Times of Malta the tender had been cancelled "since the Selmun Palace was transferred to the Lands Authority", which he noted fell under the remit of the lands ministry.
In his October budget speech, Caruana said the government would issue a public call next year for the development of Selmun Palace and the nearby Fort Campbell.
Caruana said the aim was for the country to make the best economic use of the palace, while the fort would be used for recreational purposes.
Fort Campbell was the last major fort to be built by the British services, tasked with anti-aircraft and coastal defences. It has been in disuse since the 1970s and lies mostly in ruins.
The 18th-century Selmun palace was built with funds from a Knights of St. John charity, which provided funds to ransom Christian slaves from Ottoman corsairs.
It was used by the British as a naval hospital and controversially repurposed in the 1970s as the Selmun Palace Hotel, operated by Air Malta. The now-defunct airline closed the hotel in 2011 and transferred the palace to the government.
The palace was awarded Grade 1-listed status in 2012.