Labour’s electoral billboards taken over by Film Commissioner, illegally

The Labour Party has failed to remove dozens of billboards weeks after the general elections, despite clear legal obligations to dismantle them within one week of the official electoral result.

The Shift has learned that many of the Labour Party’s billboards used during the electoral campaign are now being used for commercial advertising – a practice expressly prohibited by planning regulations.

The Planning Authority has not taken any enforcement action.

Among the main beneficiaries of this arrangement appears to be Film Commissioner Johann Grech, who is promoting the Mediterrane Film Festival, through a nationwide billboard campaign displayed on the Labour Party’s electoral set-up.

Political billboards are exempt from planning requirements only when used exclusively for elections-related material during a limited period before and immediately after elections. Once the elections are over, the structures must be removed. Using them for commercial advertising without the necessary permits is illegal.

Yet a number of the billboards now promoting the Mediterrane Film Festival were, only weeks ago, carrying Labour Party campaign messages.

The Film Commissioner was, until recently, part of Labour’s electoral campaign team and remains one of the government’s most politically connected officials, particularly within the Office of the Prime Minister.

During the last few years, he was allowed to spend millions of euro without any accountability or transparency. He continues to fail to address freedom of information requests on expenditure.

More troubling is the possibility that public funds are being channelled to pay the Labour Party for advertising on these illegally retained billboards.

The Film Commission is not the only public entity making use of the structures. Other government departments, including ministries, are also advertising on Labour’s electoral billboards.

It remains unclear whether the taxpayer-funded Film Commission is paying the Labour Party for the advertising space. If public money is indeed being channelled to the party through the use of illegally retained elections billboards, the arrangement could amount to a form of indirect party financing.

The festival’s advertising campaign is being managed by Greatt Ltd, a company owned by former NET TV official Anton Attard. Last week, the company was awarded a contract worth almost €5 million to organise and manage activities on behalf of the Malta Film Commission. The same happened last year.

The Shift asked Labour Party CEO Leonid McKay to explain why the party has failed to remove its elections billboards in accordance with the law and whether the party was charging clients, including government entities such as the Film Commission, for the use of the structures. McKay did not respond.

Questions were also sent to Film Commissioner Johann Grech, asking whether public funds were being used to finance advertising on the billboards and whether any payments were being made to the Labour Party. He also failed to reply.