Yacht club move sinks deeper into discord

Wording of clauses in the lease agreement being finalised by the government with the Royal Malta Yacht Club were added by Mamo TCV, the Midi lawyers, and by Midi CEO Ben Muscat, according to a draft of the agreement seen by The Times.

The agreement was sent to the club with "tracked changes", a feature in a word-processed document that tracks who made changes to a document. These show that the majority of the wording pertaining to two proposed restrictions on the club were added by Midi.

The clauses restrict two of the club's main revenue-generating activities - the ability to hold functions there and the use of a proposed 100-berth pontoon.

The latest draft, sent to the club on April 18, has relented considerably on the previous version: A clause totally excluding weddings, product launches and so on has been replaced by one saying the club can hold private functions for their members with not more than 100 persons. Another clause, saying that the pontoon can only be used for two weeks' berthing, has been extended to allow use for club functions, races and regattas, and for members on a short-term basis, as long as the "operation of the moorings and berthings is not commercial in nature".

This is another twist in a saga that has been going nowhere for over six years.

The club has to move from its present site at Couvre Porte on Manoel Island as the venue was given to Midi as part of its Tignè and Manoel Island project.

The government had specified that the club should be given an alternative location on the island and, at first, a site adjacent to Couvre Porte, was being discussed. The government was going to allocate Lm100,000 to the club for the move but, Midi was hoping to get the money and do the work itself, the sources said.

When no progress was made on these plans, the club drew up proposals for two alternatives off the island - the St Roque Baths and the land near the Ta' Xbiex waterpolo club.

The plans for Ta' Xbiex were eventually presented to the Cabinet for its approval. Unfortunately, the sources said, the Cabinet was shown the three-storey plans for St Roque Baths in error, and were understandably aghast at the height of the project.

For some reason, the error was never pointed out for Cabinet's reconsideration.

The project was eventually transferred from under the responsibility of Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech to that of Urban Developments Minister Jesmond Mugliett, who at the time was very optimistic that an agreement could be reached, saying it would be finalised in "four to five weeks" as recently as December 2006, for a site on Manoel Island opposite the Gzira Strand.

However, Midi resisted various aspects of the project, such as the use of a seasonal pontoon and of the catering facilities for non-club events, as well as for sailing-related events.

At the end of February, everything had been agreed on except for these two points. The document sent on April 18 expanded the clauses to a page and a half.

"It is one thing for Midi to object because the club's activities could prejudice their project, say for noise pollution and so on. In fact, the club has changed many aspects of its original plans. But the club feels these disputed clauses are there to protect Midi's activities on Manoel Island. Is this fair competition," the sources asked.

The impact of the clauses goes beyond the social and revenue-generating activities of the club: The pontoon is being laid down to provide temporary berthing facilities for the international events that the club is involved in; at the moment it relies on private marinas to make room for the ever-increasing numbers of foreign yachts.

The club also has a full range of events linked to fundraising or sponsorships.

"If a car company sponsors a race, it is because they want exposure. So how can the club say they cannot use the presentation for a car launch? Or that they cannot have more than 100 people there?" the club sources said.

"The club will have to pay at least Lm600,000 for the club house, Lm250,000 of which will pay for underground parking, another Midi-imposed condition. Although the club has some funds, it will clearly need to borrow a substantial amount. How can the club get the loan needed if it cannot show the bank how it will generate revenue to repay it?"

Asked to comment, Mr Mugliett said Midi had no right to veto the agreement and have not been speaking about vetoing.

"We feel that objections to activities relating to catering and pontoon use have been properly addressed by the ministry to safeguard the rights of all and also to be in line with conditions that the government imposes on sports leases.

"Some conditions proposed by the ministry and previously agreed to by RMYC are now being rejected by the RMYC, otherwise we would have proceeded with Parliamentary resolutions," he said.

Midi were also asked to comment as to whether they had any right to veto the agreement and whether it had given any input to the agreement. It was also asked whether it was fair competition for the club to object to activities that related to catering and berthing.

The Midi reply was: "We do not have any comments and would like you to refer to the government on the matter".