Government refuses to publish secret deal to transfer prime public land

The government should immediately publish the secret Memorandum of Understanding it signed in 2015 with a private entity to hand over a large stretch of public land “behind the public’s back” and “at a ridiculously low cost” in St Julian’s, Partit Nazzjonalista said in a statement.

Referring to the land presently occupied by Corinthia St George, Marina Corinthia and Radisson hotels, the Party said that during a meeting of the Environment and Development Planning Committee members on the government side objected strongly to the presentation of the document for discussion, saying it was to be amended shortly.

“The government wants to give away 100,000 square metres of premium land in one of the most sought after areas of Malta, that has a value of €800 million, for only €17 million to a private company without a public call. This places other investors at an unfair disadvantage,” the PN said.

It said the government had attempted to rush the agreement through Parliament over the Christmas holidays, but the move was thwarted by the Opposition.

Government members of the Environment and Development Planning Committee also objected to hearing what stakeholders and experts had to say on this development during the last meeting.

“All this when the government wants to hand over public land at a ridiculously low price for speculation and building when it has not completed a single housing project when there are people who do not have a roof over their head,” the PN added.

During a committee meeting Minister Konrad Mizzi was constantly evasive when asked basic questions on the proposal, such as how many towers for residential purposes were to be built, or the number of floors. Questions on whether a study on the impact on traffic and the surrounding environment would be held, remained unanswered.