Former land commissioner Joe Bugeja has revealed that one of the reasons he stepped down last September was because of the controversial deal reached between the government and the Café Premier owners.

Dr Bugeja was initially reluctant to comment on the Café Premier deal, when contacted yesterday by Times of Malta.

However, when pressed, he admitted his department had never been consulted on the deal reached directly between the Prime Minister and the Café Premier owners and he had only signed the contract because he was told to do so.

“I have already told the Auditor General I was never consulted or involved in this deal,” he said. Asked why he proceeded to sign the contract on the government’s behalf seeing he was not involved in the negotiations, he said he was told to sign the deal.

“I was the Land Commissioner and it was my job to sign the contract. However, I clearly told the Auditor General I was never consulted nor involved in the deal. I was only told about it when it was concluded and decided by Cabinet,” Dr Bugeja said.

Dr Bugeja, a senior government official who had spent 10 years at the Land Department, tendered his resignation last September.

I have already told the Auditor General I was never consulted or involved in this deal

In his resignation letter, Dr Bugeja said he could “no longer work serenely” due to the lack of resources and communication within the government.

Civil Service head Mario Cutajar had immediately accepted Dr Bugeja’s resignation.

Asked earlier this week whether Dr Bugeja’s resignation was connected with the Café Premier controversy, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat dismissed the issue.

However, when asked about this point blank, Dr Bugeja yesterday said: “It was one of the reasons, together with others.”

At the same time of this controversy, the Labour government had also decided the Land Department would drop a court case against the Labour Party over Australia Hall and other land in Pembroke.

Later, the party sold the property to settle long overdue debts with third parties.

Department involved at the end

A breakdown of the €4.2 million (see table on page 4) the government paid for the reacquisition of Café Premier shows the deal not only involved settling a commercial loan to Banif Bank through taxpayers’ money, but all debts the two former owners – Mario Camilleri and Neville Curmi – had accumulated throughout the years of running the business.

These include already collected VAT on sales, payments of water and electricity bills, legal fees due to Dr Malcolm Mangion – son of Labour MP Charles Mangion – incurred by the proprietors, and debt with bread supplier Golden Harvest.

Over and above, the government also paid Mr Camilleri a €210,000 commission on the sale. In its report, the National Audit Office harshly criticised the government over its failure to involve the Land Department in the negotiations of this deal.

“This department is responsible for the management and administration of all government-owned properties, yet it was only involved at the final stages of the requisition of the Café Premier, when all had already been agreed upon,” the report said.

What taxpayers paid for Café Premier