Johann Buttigieg will step down as the CEO of the Malta Tourism Authority. 

Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo confirmed with The Times of Malta that Buttigieg will be resigning after discussions between the two.

Buttigieg has long been a controversial figure ever since his tenure as the head of the Planning Authority. Meanwhile, there have been revelations concerning his questionable relationship with Yorgen Fenech, the Tumas Group businessman who is the main suspect in the Daphne Caruana Galizia assassination. 

Messages exchanged between the pair show the two men enjoyed a close relationship, with Buttigieg even suggesting that the two should “do business” together.

The suggestion came during a conversation in which Fenech offered to partner with Buttigieg on a property development he was looking to take over from Joe Portelli, the Gozitan construction magnate.

Buttigieg was appointed CEO of Malta’s Tourism Authority soon after he left the PA. There have been controversies during his tenure, namely handing Konrad Mizzi a €90,000 contract soon after the disgraced former minister was booted out of Cabinet amid the political crisis in 2019. 

His tenure as PA CEO was also subject to criticism as he oversaw rampant overdevelopment in the country. According to the report, 27.5% of Malta’s land is developed, a record in Europe, with more than 24,000 planning applications approved in the past four years.

What do you think of Buttigieg’s tenure?