Fgura Deputy Mayor Explains Why He And Two PL Councillors Walked Out Of Meeting

Fgura Deputy Mayor Darren Marmarà clarified the sequence of events that led to him and two other PL councillors clashing with the mayor and walking out of a recent council meeting.
The issue started when the council convened to discuss what position it should take on a planning application for an apartment block on one of Fgura’s oldest buildings.
The council agreed to oppose the application and spend no more than €2,000 on the appeal.
However, Marmarà said that the next day councillors received an email to approve a further €1,550 on the appeal.
During the next meeting, Marmarà and PL councillors Adrian Tanti and Josianne Scicluna requested a breakdown of these new costs but weren’t given the information. However, since all the other councillors approved the expenditure, the motion passed regardless.
However, Marmarà said that during the next meeting, mayor Clayton Cascun Portelli personally thanked all the councillors, barring himself, Tanti and Scicluna, “for safeguarding the interests of Fgura”.
In a Facebook post, he tagged all the Fgura councillors except those three.
Marmarà said that the mayor gave people the wrong impression that the three councillors were against the actual appeal, and not that they wanted a breakdown of the costs of the additional €1,550.
“In a subsequent meeting, we three councillors tabled a statement where we explained that at no point were we objecting to an appeal but were simply requesting information on the extra costs,” he said.
“We asked for a remedy from the mayor because we felt that those who followed the previous meeting or his Facebook post got the impression that we were against the appeal.”
“His reaction was rough and told us repeatedly that he will kick us out of the room. We three councillors felt that we shouldn’t fall for this ridiculous situation and left the room.”
“Our goal wasn’t political or divisive, but one based of personal integrity after an impression was given that we opposed the council’s decision. I shoulder all responsibility for my actions and will humbly accept and apologise for any mistakes. However, I don’t feel it’s fair that I shoulder a burden for something I didn’t even do.”