Incentives plan to encourage use of vacant property

The government intends to introduce fiscal incentives to encourage the use of vacant property in Valletta, including a waiver of capital gains tax, the parliamentary secretary in the Home Affairs Ministry, George Pullicino, said yesterday.

Other fiscal incentives include possible exemption from income tax for limited liability companies, and exemption from income tax on bonds that a company could wish to offer, a waiver of stamp duty on the acquisition of property by the company, a system of VAT refunds in respect of supply of goods and services connected with regeneration and soft loans.

These measures would be part of a project dealing with the regeneration of Valletta.

Mr Pullicino launched four projects yesterday, which are to be presented to the World Summit on Sustainable Development being held in Johannesburg later this year.

The other three concern the management, safeguarding and sustainable use of coastal and sea resources; the management of building waste; and for greater use to be made of public transport.

Mr Pullicino said the forthcoming summit led a number of United Nations member states to commit themselves to take sustainable measures on a national level.

The UN Commission on Sustainable Development suggested that each country should indicate three or four projects which could be implemented in the coming five and 10 years. These proposals should be presented during the Johannesburg summit.

The parliamentary secretary said that a national Commission for Sustainable Development set up by the government a few months ago proposed the four projects, which had been approved by the Cabinet.

He said the government invited Sir Peter Hall, a professor of planning at the Bartlett School of Planning, University College London, to assist in urban regeneration.

He analysed the proposals being made and suggested how an urban regeneration agency could be set up.

One of the proposals for the Valletta regeneration project is the setting up of such an agency and a limited liability company to bring vacant property back into use and approach regeneration in a holistic manner.

Another proposal is for the allocation of a grant system for the rehabilitation of existing homes and traditional shop fronts.

The project proposes the upgrading of gardens, educational and recreational facilities in the city and to make Valletta's infrastructure more tourist friendly, through improving wheelchair access, signage and outdoor seating.

The project also covers the upgrading of City Gate and the old opera house site.

Mr Pullicino said that in the past years Valletta had seen a drastic drop in population as a substantial number of residents with an average or higher income moved away.

This had left the city with 800 vacant dwellings, 72 per cent of which required structural works.

The city also had an aging population and a high percentage of residents with low income or social assistance.

Revitalising its capital, he said, would set Malta squarely on the path towards more sustainable patterns of land use and transport.

Some of the project targets, including the setting up of the agency and company, the operation of a park-and-ride system for Valletta, the introduction of fiscal incentives and the allocation of a grant system for the rehabilitation of existing homes and traditional shop fronts were targeted to be completed by 2007.

Others, such as the upgrading of City Gate, the central bus terminus and the opera house site and the restoration and upgrading of the 17th century underground drainage tunnel system were aimed to be completed by 2012.

This project was welcomed by Valletta mayor Paul Borg Olivier, who said that one of the biggest problems in Valletta was the large volume of traffic.

The proposed project, he said, would encourage people to live in Valletta and hopefully increase Valletta's current population of 9,000 residents.

He said there were as many registered businesses in Valletta as households.

Mr Pullicino also said that sustainable development of the natural resources of the zones along the coast in the northwest of the island was required.

He also spoke about the project related to the regeneration of waste and stabilising the loss of public transport patronage by 2005. He added that the government wanted to reduce private car use by 2010.