The grand plan

Investments Minister Austin Gatt unfurls the vision behind the collection of projects to revive the Grand Harbour area to Joanna Ripard and insists the regeneration plan is more than an election trump card.

By next January or February at the latest, plans on a new project to integrate Fort St Elmo with other major Valletta projects, Marsamxett Harbour and Sa Maison, will be complete, Investments Minister Austin Gatt revealed last week.

Yesterday week Government unveiled its ambitious, wide-ranging vision for the Grand Harbour - 20 proposed projects worth an estimated Lm500 million expected to create 5,000 to 6,000, mostly new jobs. It was greeted with enthusiasm and praise, and not a little cynicism. There is, after all, an election round the corner. What did Dr Gatt have to say to the cynics?

"They can be even more cynical. We have already started work on the second part of (the St Elmo) project to come out with something before the election.

"What do I answer to the cynics who say that the vision for the Grand Harbour was done for the election? What should we do? Just because there is an election round the corner, we don't breathe, we don't do anything, we don't come up with anything? The elections stimulate me to think more."

Dr Gatt says the Grand Harbour always featured in the Nationalist Party's plans and, with projects like VISET, the Cottonera Waterfront and the Casinò di Venezia, much progress has been made in the seemingly long road to see the port area stand tall again. It was time, however, to ditch the piecemeal approach and strike a balance between heritage, environment, economy, tourism and commerce.

The "genesis", Dr Gatt says, goes back to 2006, when the Ministerial Committee for Major Projects discussed this route with the prime minister and the groundwork kicked off.

"What we tried to do differently this time was look at the Grand Harbour as one holistic whole," he explains. "Let's try to do what Hamburg, Genoa and the London Docklands did and see this area as one whole within the competing demands."

Government tasked the Malta Investment Management Company Limited (MIMCOL) to look into the status of state-owned property or land abutting on the port area or behind it, to help map out roles for the government and the private sector.

"The private sector is going to be a major player. We believe that what the private sector can do, Government should not be doing. If you take the Kalkara foreshore, the project aimed at small boats: we could construct a couple of pontoons, arrange the nearby area so that it will be hard-standing - that is a project the government will have to handle.

"Others we can leave entirely to the private sector - like the cruise liner terminals - or work on public-private partnerships. The aim is to go for massive investment from the private sector because the money has to be generated from there. The economy has to expand on the back of the private sector."

Dr Gatt says the reaction to the 'vision' over the past week has been "extremely positive".

"The winner," he points out, "is the fact that it does not depend on the building of apartments or towers. There is no speculation involved. I think we have shown that it is possible to create investment without necessarily speculating in property."

Dr Gatt's ministry is hoping all players who live or operate in the port area will participate in the four-month consultation process. Local councils, tourism bodies, heritage organisations, environment lobbies, terminal operators and port users should all come forward and offer their perspective.

"The ridiculous thing to do is to take the attitude some Labour mayors are taking and refuse to participate because this is a government project. This whole question of the Labour Party saying they thought of a plan for the Grand Harbour first. The point is getting the projects right - not who started first or started second."

After December, Dr Gatt says it will be a matter of time-tabling, getting down to the economics and mapping out each project.

"By March, I would expect that most of the building blocks will be in place but I would also expect that one or two of the projects will either be concluded or possibly very near conclusion, at contractual level."

The cruise liner berths at Senglea and the extension of the Valletta terminal could potentially be the first to be ticked off the list as 'in hand'. "The one on the Senglea end is the least problematic and we can probably move on the super yachts berths as well.

"Infrastructurally, most of the work is already there. It is a successful business and there is absolutely no reason why we should not move very fast on that. The extension of the Valletta terminal should also start in a short time with VISET (which has an exclusivity clause until 2011)."

Government is considering moving the tank-cleaning facility at Ricasoli ditch offshore, possibly off Hurd's Bank. All will become clearer on this front in about six months. The audio-visual centre earmarked for Ricasoli is a matter of planning, as the interior is fairly usable immediately, although extensive work is required where the bastions are concerned.

Dr Gatt explains some projects could be run simultaneously: the expansion of Rinella Bay could be realisable next summer, the hard-standing facility at Kalkara possibly next summer, or summer 2009.

There are glamorous plans for the restoration of Villa Bighi: Dr Gatt is hoping something akin to a Muti academy or a major United Nations institution will be based there to generate business for Malta. "It is not only about a world-renowned institution but one that will bring tourists to Malta, international business to Malta, promote Malta as a destination."

Morbid as it might seem at first, the pricelessly-located Boffa Hospital could easily be transformed into a five-star, exclusive hotel. Dr Gatt says he has been approached by three entrepreneurs looking to open a 30- to 50-room boutique hotel in Valletta.

With an upgrade of the equally priceless Kalkara Garden, managed walkways, underground tunnels to the Barrakka Gardens, the minister believes the project could be magnificent.

The most difficult project could prove to be the organisation of the Marsa berthing because of the diverse interests involved. The most ambitious, meanwhile, is the 1.5 km Menqa 'walk' involving tourism and cultural plans for the quays in the area.

He promises Marsa, which desperately needs a new lease of life, will be completely transformed. He said residents should look to the Vittoriosa experience. "In Marsa we are going to invest even more, not only in a waterfront, but in the whole locality."

I ask about the open centre for irregular immigrants. "I think we can live with it," he says. "I always believe it is a question of management, more than anything else. What we are seeing a lot here in Malta is not the lack of management but the lack of enforcing new things.

"You need to manage the change. One you put in new parameters, you need to draw up a policy on these parameters. The open centre does not immediately abut the area we are talking about... It is a question of management. If it needs to be moved, then it will."

As happened in the London Docklands or Genoa, realisation of the 'vision' will be overseen by a single administrative body. The Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation is chaired by Malta Freeport Corporation chairman Mark Portelli, with a board currently made up of government nominees from entities like the Malta Maritime Authority.

"The purpose of the corporation, and the purpose of planned legislation, will be to coalesce the legal titles of all government land but mainly to be a driving force to the entire project. It is very similar to what we did with SmartCity."

Twenty - 21 - projects by 2015? "In 2015, we will definitely be ready with everything," Dr Gatt insists. "If we are re-elected, definitely. If Labour are, probably they won't do anything.

"Labour are also coming out with their plan for the Grand Harbour. If they have anything worthwhile as a plan and we are elected, we would do it. Why should you throw out a good plan just because it is Labour-inspired? Instead of 20 projects, we will have 30.

"Yes, we are looking at Labour catchment areas. We have worked hard in these areas. SmartCity, the largest foreign investment in Malta, is in a Labour catchment area."