Temporary ground rent

I refer to the letter Ground Rent Redemption by Mary Vella (November 11).

The scheme by virtue of which the temporary ground rent of residential premises, previously owned by Ecclesiastical Properties, is being redeemed at very favourable prices was announced in November 2001.

Each redemption entails a relatively long procedure and a substantial amount of clerical, technical and legal work before arriving at a point where the final deed can be drawn up.

As rightly stated by Ms Vella, there have been many other places that have had their ground rent redeemed, or the procedure finalised - 2,300 to be exact - while 500 requests have been processed and subsequently refused by the limited human resources available at the Joint Office. Unfortunately, Ms Vella's request was not one of those concluded, although most of the work has been finalised and the deed should be drawn up in the very near future.

It is also unfortunate that during a telephone call by a Joint Office official, Ms Vella did not reveal who "sent her from one place to another" as this would have enabled the authorities to instruct the relative person/s in better customer care.