Minister new ‘lift-for-votes’ in Qormi

Housing Minister Roderick Galdes unveiled a new lift in a Qormi band club — paid for with public funds and conveniently timed just before the town’s religious feast.

The lift was installed in an old palazzo in the centre of his constituency – Qormi – at St George’s Band Club, where most of its members are either his potential voters or canvassers.

Galdes took to social media to announce, via a well-coordinated video, the inauguration of the small passenger lift.

To pay for the lift, Galdes used the Housing Development Fund — a scheme under his direct control and staffed, unsurprisingly, by his own political allies.

The grand ‘lift launch’ was carefully staged on the eve of Qormi’s religious feast, conveniently out of sight of rival MPs, including Rosianne Cutajar, who also contests the same district and who was conspicuously left off the guest list.

When pressed to explain how a lift in a private club relates to social housing — the fund’s actual purpose — Galdes went mum.

Created in 2021, the Housing Development Fund claims to support projects in education, wellbeing, and accessibility.

Minister Galdes also refused to explain whether he had intervened with the Housing Authority to fund this lift and to state how much it cost.

The fund’s board is chaired by Charmaine Mangion — who happens to own a government-subsidised childcare centre in Qormi — and includes several others with ties to the Minister’s constituency.

Repeated questions for a full list of funded projects have so far been met with silence.