Conflict of interest concerns over Galdes canvasser’s dual roles on housing and planning boards

One of the canvassers of disgraced former social accommodation minister Roderick Galdes simultaneously serves as a director on the Housing Authority’s Board as well as a Board member on the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal’s appeals Board (EPRT), The Shift has learned.

Lawyer Alicia Borg’s two roles effectively mean that a canvasser who was close to a minister who attempted to conceal personal business deals with social housing contractors sits on boards that decide on social housing projects and planning appeals, which may be filed by those same contractors.

The potential conflict of interest has raised eyebrows within the construction industry.

Galdes, who was forced to resign in January after the state-backed housing company (Malita plc) suffered a liquidity crisis, first appointed Borg as secretary of the Housing Authority Board shortly after he was entrusted with the housing portfolio in 2017.

Since then, Borg has been reconfirmed as secretary of the Housing Authority’s Board year after year. The current board’s term expires in June 2026.

In January last year, Borg was also appointed as one of three Board members responsible for deciding EPRT appeals, a role she is set to hold for the next five years.

The Shift has reported that she was among several dozen lawyers close to the Labour Party who benefited from a bonanza of direct orders issued through the same Authority she was overseeing as Board secretary.

At least 66 lawyers were placed on the Authority’s payroll without competition after legal changes to pre-1995 leases led to a wave of cases over contested rental rates being heard before the Rent Regulations Board.

Government Gazette records show that Borg was paid €20,000 over two years through two direct orders of €10,000 each, exactly at the legal threshold for direct orders.

Following Galdes’ resignation and the Office of the Prime Minister’s takeover of the social accommodation portfolio, the state-backed housing company Malita Investments has seen an almost total purge of all appointees linked to the disgraced minister.

Earlier in March, Malita’s Chief Operations Officer, Amanda Desira, was the latest executive to be removed from Malita.

Almost all of the board directors whom Galdes appointed to oversee Malita’s operations have also been removed and replaced.

While Galdes denies any wrongdoing and continues to claim he is the victim of “synchronised attacks”, Malita’s flagship social housing projects remain unfinished, with the company failing to provide a clear timeline about when works are expected to be completed.