Editorial | Wednesday, 11 June 2008

Better use of government property

It is encouraging to note that the Lands Department is embarking on the task of setting up a database of all government property, listing all rents received along with all the burdens such property is subject to. This process, albeit long overdue, should provide a scientific assessment of where government property is located and what its present use really is. The exercise is being carried out in full recognition of the potential value that such assets have, in an attempt to maximise revenues from government properties which often lie either dormant or in a state of abandonment.
Also, this week government announced plans to convert title of many government owned fields presently on an agricultural rent basis on to a title of emphytheusis, allowing farmers to have a stronger title in the eyes of the law. This initiative should also encourage farmers to carry on looking after their land, much of which has lately started to be abandoned. The fulfilment of this electoral promise will certainly allow the agricultural sector to carry on growing.
In similar fashion, government should consider the position of commercial tenancies presently on title of encroachment to see how these too could benefit from a stronger title at law. With the knowledge of a stronger title, motivation to maintain and embellish property automatically increases - allowing further investments in tenanted government property. The process would of course also serve as a good revenue stream to government finances. There are numerous examples of sporting facilities, urban and rural tenements on title of encroachment.
Use and transfer of government property has always been a controversial issue in Malta, especially with the number of properties passed over with no public tender process at all in the 1980s. Farmhouses, flats and other tenements were freely passed on at very low rents, rendering a pittance to government. Transfer of government property tightened up in only later years, with a tendering process subject to all government property as well the requirement of parliamentary approval for certain types of transfer. While this is still not the perfect solution, it nonetheless increased transparency and allowed for public scrutiny.
The hurdle that needs to be overcome now is to ensure government property is put at its best use, while also addressing whether it is acceptable for government to occupy private property at extremely low rents. A number of government ministries and departments are in fact housed in properties owned privately. It is worth considering whether, at a time when a revision of the rent laws is on the political agenda, it is time for government to lead by example and vacate private property it is making use by means of controlled rent agreements.
The whole issue of government property and its use cannot be viewed in isolation. Due consideration to the promised rent reform should serve as a testing guide for the newfound working alliance of government and opposition since the Labour Party has elected its new leader. This revision of rent laws is urgently required in order to overcome the problem of landlords getting a pittance for their valued assets, not to mention the obscene right of succession to the heirs of tenants living with them in the property. Just as immediate is the need to liberalise commercial rents, which makes absolutely no sense today, now that extremely high premiums are being paid anyway.
The challenge facing government property is tied to making the lands department more user-friendly. There is an urgent requirement for updated information, freely available online and widely advertised (not merely on the government gazette). More information relating to government property should be made known so that more than a limited number of persons would be able to acquire information on those properties up for public tender. The limitations of the present system lie in the fact that the average person does not have access to the government gazette, although in all fairness its information is also available electronically. This shortcoming however needs to be addressed since, as much as it makes sense to offer government property for sale, this must be tied to a system providing freely available information, including to those who are not necessarily IT competent.