Government involved with Rosianne Cutajar’s partner in controversial Sliema lido application

The government is directly involved in the latest controversial planning application, which seeks to privatise part of the Sliema/Gżira promenade and surrounding seabed to create a new large-scale lido and entertainment complex.

One of the key figures behind the project is Daniel Farrugia, the partner of Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar. Together with his father, businessman Lino Farrugia, he is among the principal shareholders behind one of the companies leading the application.

Planning application PA03174/26 proposes the transformation of a stretch of public coastline and adjacent sea along the Gżira strand into a private commercial development consisting of a lido, restaurants, decking areas and entertainment facilities.

The application has been submitted by three separate hotel owners operating on the Gżira waterfront, all arguing that the development is necessary to provide leisure facilities for hotel guests.

The companies involved are linked to The Londoner Hotel, owned by the Farrugia family; the Verdi Hotel, owned through the Libyan Arab Maltese Holding Company (LAMHCO) and managed by Corinthia Hotels; and the Pebbles Resort group, owned by the Casha family.

The proposed development would significantly alter a heavily used public coastline, replacing open-access areas with private commercial operations targeted at tourists and entertainment patrons.

The government’s involvement in the project is particularly sensitive because it is not merely acting as a regulator. Through LAMHCO, the Maltese government is itself effectively a shareholder in one of the entities backing the application.

LAMHCO is a joint venture between the Maltese and Libyan governments. The company has long been politically connected and remains partly controlled by the Maltese state through government-appointed directors.

The company is currently chaired by former Labour MP Tony Nicholl.

The Shift is informed that the driving force behind the project appears to be businessman Lino Farrugia, better known as ‘Lino tal-Options’, whose name appears prominently on the planning application documents.

Farrugia, now in his 70s, has built a wide-ranging business network over the years spanning retail, hospitality, property development and commercial leasing. His son, Daniel Farrugia, Rosianne Cutajar’s partner, manages and co-owns several of the family’s ventures.

The Farrugia family has long maintained close ties with senior Labour Party figures, including former Tourism Minister Karmenu Vella, and has been associated with several major development projects during successive Labour administrations.

The third major player in the proposed lido project is Sea Pebbles Ltd, the company behind Pebbles Resort and a growing portfolio of hospitality and entertainment businesses.

The company is owned by the Casha family, whose business interests have expanded significantly in recent years through hotels, beach clubs, restaurants and nightlife establishments.

Public records show that the Sea Pebbles group also absorbed MedAsia Entertainment into its broader hospitality operations.

Darren Casha – a close associate of disgraced former minister Konrad Mizzi –  has become one of the most visible figures associated with the group’s entertainment arm.

The proposed development is already raising concerns among residents and activists, who argue that the project represents another attempt to privatise Malta’s shrinking public coastline for the benefit of politically connected business interests. Political party Momentum has welcomed the opposition to the project by the mayors of Sliema and Gzira.

“Their position confirms the serious concerns first raised publicly by Momentum regarding this scandalous proposal. As revealed by Momentum, the proposed development application includes the reclamation of public sea space to construct a commercial lido complete with swimming pool, sun deck, restaurants and ancillary buildings facing Manoel Island. The project would further privatise and obstruct one of Malta’s most heavily used and iconic promenades,” the Party said.

So far, Prime Minister Robert Abela has remained silent on the controversial project. The application can proceed only with the consent of Abela’s government.