Government fails to act on Christian Borg’s illegal use of St Lucija car park

The government has not followed up on its promise to take legal action over Christian Borg’s illegal use of a car park in Santa Lucija to store hundreds of rental cars.

The government and SportMalta declared that the car park was being used illegally and announced court action following a summer protest by Santa Lucija residents, but two months have passed, and no court case was filed, just a legal letter that the football club ignored.

The car park forms part of football facilities transferred by the government in 2015, to be administered by the Santa Lucija Football Club for 49 years under a heavily subsidised lease.

According to the deed of transfer, the club is bound to use these facilities strictly for sports purposes. It leased the car park to Christian Borg’s Princess Holdings Ltd despite strict conditions stating it cannot use the area commercially without SportMalta’s consent.

Borg has turned the car park into a private storage facility for his rental cars, paying the club an undisclosed sum contrary to the conditions imposed by the deed.

Santa Lucija residents told The Shift that the car park is now also blocked by a barrier, and the situation remains the same as when they first protested the abuse.

The local council of Santa Lucija, led by Labour Mayor Charmaine St John, denounced the illegal occupation and is still promising action to residents, but no progress has been made.

Christian Borg is currently facing a number of criminal charges, including money laundering and kidnapping. The friend and former business partner of Prime Minister Robert Abela has managed to continue his illegal activities without any problems.

This is not the first time the government and SportMalta have ignored the conditions imposed on football clubs. Other Premier League football clubs have also commercialised their public facilities illegally without resulting action by the authorities.