The road leading to Manoel Island from Kappara needs to be in place by the time works on Manoel Island start moving at a certain pace, MIDI plc CEO Benjamin Muscat said yesterday.
The tender for the detailed design of the road is expected to be issued next year and the road works to start by 2006.
"If the works do start by 2006, that would more or less be in line with the completion of the first phase of the development on Manoel Island, which is expected by 2008," Mr Muscat added.
The road together with all the infrastructure services to go with it are the responsibility of the government.
The development of both Tigné Point and Manoel Island is expected to be completed by 2012, Mr Muscat added. The project is estimated to cost about Lm140 million.
The development at Tigné started in December 2000 with the dismantling of the former barracks used by the British army. Parts of the barracks included the landmark clock tower which has been incorporated in the new building.
Mr Muscat was speaking after a visit to Tigné Point by Urban Development and Roads Minister Jesmond Mugliett.
Mr Mugliett said that close to the clock tower which forms part of the first block of the development are 12 flats that were initially earmarked for families who used to live in the barracks.
Five of these families have made arrangements to reside somewhere else and the remaining seven apartments are expected to be passed on to the government to be sold by tender with a starting price of Lm80,000.
In the coming weeks a number of club houses are to be passed on to the Assocjazzjoni Sportiva Tigné and will accommodate those organisations that used to have a club house at Tigné prior to the extensive building now going on.
Mr Muscat said the development was "broadly speaking" on track because there were certain snags that crop up along the way that call for a change in plans.
"For example, during the excavations close to Tigné Tower, we unearthed a number of heritage tunnels which entailed the holding back of certain works.
"Apart from the tunnels built by the Knights of St John as escape routes, another feature that is worth preserving is the garden battery forming part of the coastal defence system built by the British during the Victorian era.
"Initially, this defence system was not considered having heritage worth, and the lease agreement MIDI had with the government did not include the preservation and restoration of this battery," Mr Muscat added.
The Malta Environment and Planning Authority and the heritage authorities, however, are insisting that these historical and architectural sites be preserved and this had led to changes in the scheme for Tigné north, which overlooks Qui-Si-Sana.
As a result, the underground tunnel providing access for traffic underneath the Tigné Point development - Tigné Point will be completely traffic free - would have to pass under part of the defence battery.
"This would entail the dismantling of part of the battery, excavating under it, building a reinforcing structure and reconstructing once again that part of the battery that was dismantled," Mr Muscat explained.
The CEO said that selling phases of the development would generate revenue to support the building of the other phases. But there are other funds which would enable a number of phases to be built in parallel.
MIDI shareholders have put up Lm12 million and there are financial facilities by the banks apart from the interest shown by other investors for particular phases of the project.
Once a large chunk of Tigné Point is completed, MIDI will concentrate on Manoel Island, Mr Muscat said.