BCA board member coordinating Abela’s hotel project

Ray Pellicano, a board member of Malta’s construction regulator, is coordinating Prime Minister Robert Abela’s multi-million-euro boutique hotel project in Xewkija, raising serious questions about conflicts of interest and political patronage within the building industry regulator.

Pellicano sits on the board of the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), the same authority responsible for regulating construction activity and enforcing compliance on building sites across Malta. Yet industry sources told The Shift that Pellicano is simultaneously acting as site manager or coordinator for Abela’s private hotel development in Gozo, a position that falls directly under the authority’s regulatory remit.

Sources said Pellicano began receiving a string of lucrative government appointments soon after taking on responsibilities connected to the prime minister’s project.

Besides his position on the BCA board, Pellicano was also appointed to the board of the Property Market Agency and given a senior, full-time executive job as chief operations officer at Project Plus Ltd, the government agency, which has since been rebranded as Malta Investments and Economic Advisory.

Pellicano publicly describes himself as an engineer. However, his name does not appear on the latest published list of warranted engineers issued by the government.

Sources familiar with the sector said Pellicano previously worked as a land surveyor within the architectural firm of veteran architect Joe Cassar before moving into a series of lucrative government-linked appointments.

He also has his own consultancy, named RPA Consultants Ltd, registered in Mosta.

Asked by The Shift to explain how he could serve on the board of the country’s construction regulator while coordinating the prime minister’s private development project, Pellicano did not reply.

He also did not clarify how he was carrying out site management duties in Gozo while occupying a full-time executive position at government offices in Sliema, where he is supposed to spend most of his working time.

The controversy surrounding Pellicano emerges as Prime Minister Robert Abela continues refusing to explain how he and his wife, Lydia, are financing two simultaneous luxury private construction projects despite declaring an annual income of just €65,000.

Repeated questions from The Shift asking whether the projects are financed through loans, whether banks are involved, or whether third parties are funding the developments have gone unanswered.

Robert Abela’s last recorded declarations of assets – a process he has since banned – do not show any registered loans linked to the couple.

One of the projects involves the redevelopment of Villa Ċinja in Żejtun, an ODZ property purchased by the Abelas in 2017 for a declared €600,000. The villa is being rebuilt into a sprawling luxury residence with landscaped gardens and a large swimming pool.

Construction works on the Żejtun mansion are being carried out by Elbros, owned by contractor Charles Ellul, whose companies have received several controversial government direct orders, including a €7 million Infrastructure Malta contract related to the Hal Far drag racing project, which is currently under scrutiny by the National Audit Office.

At the same time, intensive work is also underway at the Abelas’ farmhouse in Xewkija, which is being converted into a 22-guest boutique hotel complex complete with guest suites, pools, spa facilities and entertainment areas.

The prime minister and his wife spent an additional €315,000 on acquiring adjacent plots related to the project’s expansion. Questions were later raised after those acquisitions were not clearly reflected in Abela’s asset declarations, while his declared bank deposits appeared to increase despite the substantial expenditure.

Works at the Xewkija hotel are being carried out by Vella Brothers Readymix Ltd, known in Gozo as “tal-Malla”. The same contractors are linked to extensive illegal ODZ development in the tal-Gorġun area of Xewkija, including pools, residences and industrial structures.

In recent weeks, Abela’s government moved to redesignate the area from ODZ land into a “rural settlement”, effectively regularising the illegal developments and significantly increasing the value of the contractors’ holdings.