Lands Authority board not informed of Palm Beach €2 million transaction

The Board of Governors of the Lands Authority (LA) is in the dark over the publicised commercial deal between two private companies concerning a government-owned property in Armier.

While both the Authority chairman, John Vassallo, and CEO Robert Vella are refusing to explain how two private entities are trading a government-owned lido, sources at the Lands Authority told The Shift that this ‘deal’ was never brought to the attention of the Board of Governors.

The government property, known as the Armier Lido, has now been changed to Palm Beach Resort.

In 2005, following a tender, the Lands Authority gave its management to VSV Ltd through a 50-year concession at an annual rent of €16,560, to be revised every five years. Vincent and Sarah Vella from Mellieha, who own Adventure Camping and Leisure Ltd, were the original concessionaires in the deal.

VSV Ltd has since been dissolved. Now, a publicly listed company, G3 Finance plc, announced that in 2023, it had entered into a promise of sale to acquire the property, and a final deed, costing €2 million, was to be signed by the end of the year.

According to G3, the deal was struck with Eight Eleven Ltd, owned by Claire Calleja from Mellieha, as well as Cynthia, and Saviour Sammut from Mosta.

So far, the Lands Authority has never issued a tender to sell this property to anyone. It is unclear how two private entities, who do not appear to have any title on the said property, are trading it.

According to the law, the only way to transfer the remaining concession period is through written consent from the Lands Authority.

Neither the Land Authority nor Daniel Grima, the managing director of G3 Holdings, which owns the Pergola and Solana Hotels in Mellieha, answered questions by The Shift.

The original contract related to the 50-year concession of the Armier Lido does not mention the Grimas or the owners of Eight Eleven Ltd.

It is unclear how the original concessionaire, VSV Ltd, passed on the concession to third parties, at what price, and whether the Lands Authority approved the transfer without a tender.