Bernard Grech’s former right-hand man and head of secretariat, Ray Bezzina, will join db Group as a director within the CEO’s office from May 2.
Bezzina, arguably the most influential figure after Grech within the Nationalist Party, confirmed to Times of Malta that he will be joining the construction and development company, in one of its top roles. He resigned his role in the PN earlier this month after the party’s heavy electoral defeat.
“I am proud to be joining db Group which has always followed all the laws, rules and regulations in all its projects, and will continue to do so. No one has ever proved otherwise,” Bezzina said when contacted.
Bezzina is currently still working within the party during a handover period. Chief strategist Chris Peregin also stepped down since his contract expired.
The news comes shortly after a political campaign where both parties vowed to make the environment their top priority.
Despite cautiously steering clear of singling out developers, the PN was outrightly critical of overdevelopment and the uglification of the Maltese landscape.
The db Group had been embroiled in the controversial development project of the former ITS land in Pembroke.
The group was initially accused of being in cahoots with the Joseph Muscat administration to have the prime public site transferred to them through a ‘tailor-made’ agreement that would see them pay a mere €60 million for it.
The plans for the site development drew widespread protests from Pembroke residents and environmental NGOs.
More than 4,000 objections were submitted to the Planning Authority, and back then, the Nationalist Party was vociferously critical of both the land transfer agreement and the proposed development.
The plans, which included high-rise buildings, commercial centres and luxury hotels and apartments, had been granted a permit in 2018 with a very narrow majority.
But a year later, the group was forced to go back to the drawing board after the permit was annulled by a court, as one of the members on the Planning Authority board who gave the go-ahead had an undeclared conflict of interest.
Subsequently, the company downsized the development by reducing the height of the residential tower from 37 to 31 floors, lowering the adjacent hotel by two floors and increasing public open spaces.
In 2017, PN leader Simon Busuttil asked the auditor general to investigate db’s land transfer agreement. Busuttil said he then received a text message from the CEO of db Group, Arthur Gauci, asking for all donations to be returned back.
It sparked controversy on the PN’s relationship with db Group, during which Busuttil argued he will never allow the company to buy the PN’s silence on the issue.