Galdes blocks publication of Malita Chair’s resignation letter

Embattled Affordable Housing Minister Roderick Galdes is seeking to prevent the public from learning the real reasons behind the sudden departure of Malita Investments Chair Johan Farrugia, having blocked the publication of Farrugia’s reportedly “fiery” resignation letter.

Farrugia, a young lawyer appointed chairman of Malita Investments by Galdes earlier this year, abruptly resigned from his post just hours after his predecessor, former Labour MEP Marlene Mizzi, publicly accused the minister of interfering in the management of the publicly listed company and of “hobnobbing” with contractors awarded multi-million-euro social housing contracts by the government-controlled company.

Mizzi left Malita (she claims she was not fired) when Minister Galdes assumed political responsibility for the company from Finance Minister Clyde Caruana.

Farrugia’s departure was accompanied by a lengthy resignation letter addressed to Minister Galdes, outlining the reasons for his resignation and shedding light on alleged mismanagement at Malita since Galdes assumed political responsibility for the company.

Through a Freedom of Information request, The Shift asked Galdes to publish the letter. The minister rejected the request, claiming that disclosure would not be in the public interest.

The Shift has since filed a formal complaint, arguing that Malita’s shareholders – the public – have a right to be fully informed about what is happening within the publicly listed company.

Galdes’s decision mirrors a similar refusal by Farrugia himself.

The former DF Advocates partner, who later branched into private consultancy through Peak Point Advisory in Qormi, has so far declined to explain the reasons for his sudden resignation.

Asked by The Shift to clarify why he stepped down and to publish the contents of the letter he sent to Minister Galdes, Farrugia refused. He also declined to explain why, despite Malita’s significant liquidity problems, he appointed himself executive chairman while the company already employed a full-time CEO earning over €100,000 annually.

Additionally, Farrugia refused to justify why he and the rest of Malita’s board approved a 16% increase in their honoraria at a time when the company’s financial position was deteriorating.

Malita Investments – a government financial vehicle tasked with funding social housing projects – has effectively run out of cash, forcing the suspension of three ongoing projects in Bormla, Kirkop, and Luqa. The company is also facing legal action from several contractors owed millions of euro in unpaid bills.

At the same time, it emerged that Minister Galdes was conducting private business with some of the contractors involved in Malita projects, notably Gozitan developers Joseph Portelli and Mark Agius, known as Ta’ Dirjanu. Earlier this year, the two, through their company Excel Investments, sold Galdes a duplex penthouse in Rabat, Gozo, complete with a garage and communal pool, for a reported bargain price of just €140,000.

The Shift also revealed that during the same period, Malita replaced a contractor on the Bormla project with Next Construction, another company owned by Portelli and Agius.

Additionally, through the Housing Authority, Galdes also leased around 100 unsold apartments from the developers for use as social housing, in a deal costing taxpayers millions.

Despite mounting pressure to dismiss Galdes, Prime Minister Robert Abela defended the minister, stating that he was satisfied with the explanations Galdes provided regarding how he accumulated a substantial private property portfolio while serving as a Cabinet minister.

A few years ago, Abela was under the same spotlight over a similar ‘bargain’ he made when he bought a sprawling ODZ villa on the outskirts of Zejtun, for just €600,000. At the time, the villa, with massive gardens, was estimated to fetch some €2 million on the open market.