Tensions at Gozo ministry over Xewkija sheep farm proposal

Gozo and Planning Minister Clint Camilleri, currently under pressure to resign after being caught breaching the ministerial code of ethics, has another problem to resolve.

A new sheep farm application has led to an open war between two top civil servants inside his ministry and among his closest collaborators.

In another attempt to turn ODZ farmland into a sheep farm on the outskirts of Xewkija, the minister’s cousin, architect Alex Bigeni, presented a fresh application, PA3056/24, to the Planning Authority on behalf of farmer Lawrence Cassar.

The Planning Authority has rejected the proposal several times because it goes against planning rules. This time around, the applicant is hoping for the Gozo minister’s backing now that he is also the planning minister.

The applicant’s son, John Cassar, has been elected as a Labour Councillor in Munxar, while his partner is Vicky Xuereb, the Director General of Clint Camilleri’s ministry.

On the other hand, Tatiane Scicluna Cassar, promoted to Director of Legal Services by Minister Camilleri, lives close to the proposed sheep farm and has filed an objection to the application, taking a position against her Director General’s personal interests.

Scicluna Cassar is married to another of Minister Camilleri’s cousins, George Scicluna of CVC media company, who receives a raft of direct orders from his cousin – the minister.

According to planning rules, the sheep farm proposal to turn a scenic rural landscape between Xewkija and Sannat into a sprawling sheep farm is supposed to be a non-starter. The Planning Authority dismissed an identical application in 2022.

Cassar and his son want to relocate their small illegal farm to a new large field where no farms are permitted. The area is also some 100 metres away from a protected archaeological site, prompting the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage to object.

While the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) has already stated that the application is objectionable, NGOs Din l-Art Ħelwa and Wirt Għawdex insist the application must be thrown out as it threatens the rural environment of the area and is entirely inappropriate.

The Planning Authority is awaiting further public feedback until 22 November.