The Court of Appeal has revoked a permit to build a controversial Capitanerie at the Gardens Marina in Ta’ Xbiex and declared that it was issued illegally.

In his decision, following an appeal by a group of Ta’ Xbiex residents and the NGO Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar (FAA), Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti lambasted Transport Malta, the permit applicant, and the Planning Authority for ignoring the planning rules and issuing the permit.

Although the permit was vehemently contested, as the Capitanerie was considered an ‘excuse’ for a fully-fledged restaurant for a group of businessmen close to Prime Minister Robert Abela, the construction project was still started despite the pending Court decision.

The permit’s revocation is now supposed to halt the project, and the developers are to return the place to its original state.

The residents insisted that the Planning Authority (PA) misinterpreted the law to justify the water’s edge development and intentionally used the wrong policy. They also accused the authorities of permitting an unnecessary building in an area designated as a Public Open Space to accommodate the marina’s private operators.

The Shift has already reported that work on the Capitanerie project had started, under the guidance of Architect Antoine Zammit, despite the PM’s pledge that such permits are to be non-executable until a final decision through an appeal is issued.

Abela’s yacht in its new berth at Gardens Marina, Ta’ Xbiex.

However, the law suspending works under appeal, promised by Abela in May 2023, has yet to be implemented and left pending by the government.

The controversial permit for the Capitainerie was issued in 2022.

Although the project will only serve the interests of the private company, given a 25-year concession to manage the marina in 2018, Transport Malta is coordinating it.

The public regulator’s CEO, Kurt Farrugia, is listed as the project’s owner.

The Shift’s questions about who is financing this project, its costs, and what type of procurement was used to choose the architect, design the plans, and execute the project have not been answered so far.

The Capitanerie project is an excuse for a large waterfront restaurant to be operated by the marina’s private concessionaires. It consists of a large indoor and outdoor restaurant, a small office space for marina management, and a shop.

Paul and Mark Gauci, known as Tal-Gedida.

Brothers Paul and Mark Gauci, known as Tal-Gedida from Birkirkara, are the brains behind the project and the marina concession. They are intimate friends of Robert and Lydia Abela and spend weeks during summer together on their luxury yachts, accompanying the PM and his family.

They have various other business interests, including the importation of luxury second-hand cars, the running of the Sky Spirt gym at the airport, and property development.

They are joined by two other directors and shareholders, Patrick Satariano and Matthew Fiorini Lowell. Both are in the yachting business, among other interests.

The Shift reported that Prime Minister Abela moved his €300,000 luxury yacht to a new berth at his friend’s Ta’ Xbiex marina a few months ago.