Whistleblower claim selective campaign li

Noel Ciantar, a man whose farming family has held legal titles on an agricultural property at Wied Hazrun, sometimes called is-Simblija, in Rabat for generations, is claiming that a campaign by the Ramblers Association attacking his family’s legal rights on the property and demanding that he gives public access to his family’s farming property is a case of discriminatory and selective targeting and was instigated by Dr Ian Borg when he was Mayor of Dingli.

The campaign, according to Mr Ciantar, is intrinsically linked to Mayor Borg’s pet projects of the Dingli Heritage Trail and the integral ‘Dingli Interpretation Centre’ – both EU funded projects – about which Mr Ciantar has demanded Maltese and EU authorities to conduct formal investigations after the centre was turned into a restaurant.

Mr Ciantar claims the campaign is not addressing a general principle to all old property, but is uniquely targeted to his family’s property, adding that he is not aware of any other similar campaign in which any ‘urban elite’, politicians, the Church or government are being compelled to give public access to old properties, some of which are of Roman or medieval origins, or to publish their titles of ownership.

Mr Ciantar claims that the motives of the campaign are beyond culture or property and that it started off with false claims that Mr Ciantar’s property had been misappropriated, but has now evolved into a direct attack on Mr Ciantar’s legal property rights with the Ramblers entering Mr Ciantar’s farm property without his consent on Sunday 19 June 2016 and confronting him (as reported in the media). Mr Ciantar says that this suggests that the campaign was malicious from the start.

Ciantar involved as whistleblower in cases of alleged collusion, fraud and corruption

In January 2016, Mr Ciantar asked the authorities to investigate a case of alleged collusion, fraud, irregularities and corruption at the EU-funded ‘Dingli Interpretation Centre’, which is being operated as a full-blown restaurant. The centre was intended to be an information and education centre on the Dingli Heritage Trail, a walking route around Dingli that explores natural and built heritage for the benefit of the rural economy.

The case involves Ian Borg, now Parliamentary Secretary for EU Funds, who was then the Dingli mayor in charge of the project, in whose name the Mepa permit PA 00425/08 was issued, and under whose mayorship, since March 2012, the centre was converted into a restaurant complete with a listing on Trip Advisor.

In 2015, Mr Ciantar was also involved in a report to authorities about a Mepa permit issued to Dr Borg in the medieval estate known as Tad-Dahla, in the Santa Katerina rural settlement in Rabat, resulting in investigations by the Ombudsman and the Permanent Commission Against Corruption. Inter alia, the Ombudsman’s report had noted that Dr Borg’s screening of his application behind the name of another person constituted a “devious method” of ap- plying for a development permit.

Mr Ciantar wrote a detailed letter to the media that had published the article on the altercation with the Ramblers, exercising a right of reply following an article naming him, with a copy to this newsroom and to several authorities involved in the ‘Dingli Interpretation Centre’ investigation request. Noting that he is a private person, Mr Ciantar says that, considering his roles of ‘whistleblower’ and journalist among others, he rejects any attempt on his credibility or reputation.

The motives behind the Ramblers campaign: another ‘devious attempt’?

In his letter, Mr Ciantar quotes publicly available documents which show that Dr Borg was at the inception of the campaign against the Ciantars.

Mr Ciantar quotes the Ramblers in newsletter number 24 of April 2012 telling members that: “The Rabat and Dingli councils have already sought and found our cooperation in this respect regarding the Ta’ Baldu and is-Simblija issues,” referring to accessibility. Mr Ciantar also quotes from a Department of Information press release issued by Dr Borg on 5 July 2015 in which Dr Borg stated: “The person who this week presented a case in front of the Commission (the Permanent Com- mission Against Corruption) – Mr Noel Ciantar – is the same person who in the past tried to deny the common citizens access to the area know as is-Simblija, Limits of Rabat. At the time, Dr Borg had worked with other NGOs to protect this right.” While noting that the DOI statement did not name the “NGOs”, Mr Ciantar quotes from the Commission Against Corruption report dated 22 December 2015 in which Dr Borg said under oath that “...he (Borg) had to appear in front of the PCAC as Mayor of Dingli with the Ramblers because the witness (Borg) was organising a series of walks to historic sites including is-Simblija...”

“Isn’t this clear evidence of who sought the cooperation of the Ramblers? Was this a case of using an NGO as a front for yet another ‘devious’ attempt?” Mr Ciantar asks.

Mr Ciantar also claims that another statement made by Dr Borg under oath to the Commission Against Corruption that there were court cases against Ciantar about his property is a lie under oath and he challenged Dr Borg to publish a list of such cases.

“Why did Dr Borg organise walks to my family’s property and why did he want public access?” Mr Ciantar asks, pointing to an answer in a newspaper article back in August 2012, which quoted the Ramblers and Dr Borg, and in which Dr Borg had stated that his council wanted to list is-Simblija on the Dingli Heritage Trail and to make the site publicly accessible.

A story starting back in 2008

Mr Ciantar recounts a story starting in around January 2008 when Dr Borg submitted a Mepa application for the ‘Dingli Interpretation Centre’ as part of the Dingli Heritage Trail.

Since 2008, Mr Ciantar claims, the Ramblers have used a section of the media to conduct a campaign with “vitriolic” language alleging that he or his family had misappropriated property at is-Simblija. The campaign initially included another Rabat property, known as Ta’ Baldu, which was likewise planned for inclusion in the Dingli Heritage Trail. Mr Ciantar also recounts that Dr Borg was actively seeking a revision of boundaries between the Rabat and Dingli councils around the Ciantars’ property and that Dr Borg’s council even submitted a Mepa application for Dingli Heritage Trail work, which were to be financed using EU agricultural funds, to be routed through Mr Ciantar’s family farm in Rabat, splitting the farm property in two.

Mr Ciantar’s family opposed the revision of boundaries and the Mepa application in terms of law, and following policy and law, the authorities upheld the Ciantars’ position on both issues.

Request for investigation of Dr Borg’s acts connected to the applications

However, it appears that Dr Borg was compelled to withdraw his Mepa application because Mr Ciantar asked the authorities for a formal investigation into “acts of Dr Borg” in connection with Mepa applications which were to be EU funded.

It also appears that Dr Borg had initially apologised to Mr Ciantar in correspondence to the latter dated 27 July 2010,