€430,000 awarded to former landowners for Freeport expropriation

BirdLife Malta

The heirs of a family of the land that was expropriated in 1969 for the construction of the Freeport have been awarded some EUR430,000 in compensation and EUR5,000 for moral damages. The expropriation concerns six plots of land in Kalafrana and Benghajsa and a site known as Villa Cachia. The land was expropriated and the buildings on the sites were demolished to make way for the Malta Freeport.

The family, however, was left without compensation. Compensation claims were passed on to the children of the original landowners. Judge Mark Simiana criticised the "exaggerated delay" in processing the applicant's case.

The court considered whether the case should be brought to the Land Arbitration Board - as the authority responsible for dealing with compensation claims for expropriations. Ultimately, the Court ruled that this would further prolong the case which had already dragged on for far too long. It calculated the compensation owed as EUR432,345.43 plus EUR5,000 for moral damages.

Lawyers Jose' Herrera, Mario DeMarco and David Camilleri represented the heirs of the family.

Follow this story on social media