Marsa council laments lack of consultation

The Marsa local council should have been consulted on the plans for Menqa before the master plan, unveiled last week, was finalised, the mayor said.

"It is useless to spend money on a master plan and then have to make changes if some things are unacceptable," Francis Debono said.

He said the council had been trying to secure a meeting with Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt for more than eight months but this was never forthcoming.

Earlier, the local council said in a statement that, while it was in favour of any projects in the run-down area, it could not accept that it had not been consulted or invited for the project's presentation last Friday afternoon.

The ministry replied that the master plan was up for consultation and an exhibition of the designs was being held at the Malta Maritime Authority offices.

However, when contacted, Mr Debono insisted consultation should have taken place before the master plan was unveiled.

He also said the project should start as soon as possible and not allow two years to go by before work started. The council was in favour of any project in the area.

The ministry said the council seemed to have forgotten that when the government launched its vision for Grand Harbour in September 2007 it had invited all local councils involved to a detailed presentation. The Marsa council had not attended, the ministry said.