Environment Minister Jose Herrera held a rather informal meet-up with the head of Malta’s Developers’ Association Sandro Chetcuti at a coffee shop in Valletta, once again raising serious questions over the powerful lobby’s extremely close relationship with the current administration.

Photos sent to Lovin Malta show Herrera and Chetcuti having a jovial conversation at a coffee shop on Republic Street. The meet-up took place on 27th December 2019 while government and parliament were in shutdown for the Christmas break.

What was discussed between the pair remains to be seen. However, questions must be raised why a minister would chat with a lobbyist in an environment that is neither logged nor officially registered (like what would have happened at the Ministry).

According to a spokesperson at the Ministry for the Environment, Herrera was having a coffee on the street when Chetcuti coincidentally passed by and joined the table. However, sources have told Lovin Malta that the two were sitting together for around an hour.

”Trying to portray a mere unplanned casual ENCOUNTER that Minister Herrera had with Chetcuti during the Christmas period in Republic Street, Valletta at a highly frequented cafeteria, as some sort of an “informal meeting” is purely speculative intended to seek utter sensationalism. Minister Herrera has no reason to hold planned informal meetings with Chetcuti, ” the spokesperson said failing to divulge what was discussed between the pair as asked.

Regardless, in any other EU member state, a key minister meeting up with such a powerful lobbyist in an informal and unofficial capacity would undoubtedly raise eyebrows, and in some instances even warrant a resignation.

Chetcuti enjoys a very close relationship with the Labour Party. Under oath, Speaker and former Labour Party Deputy Leader said that Chetcuti held an office on the infamous fourth floor of the party’s headquarters in the months leading up to the general election, all while he was serving as the Vice President of the MDA.

The fourth floor was the base of operations for the general election, with Farrugia claiming that a plethora of business people utterly unfamiliar with the Labour Party flooded the headquarters in the year leading up to the vote.

While Chetcuti has denied having an office, he has admitted to being a protagonist in helping Labour get elected and working closely with business people to meet with the party.

The Labour Party government has since gone on to lead a construction boom, where dubious permits and public land are handed out a la carte to cash-hungry developers.

Meanwhile, Herrera has often been subject to intense criticism from activists who feel he does little to protect the environment from over-development.