SmartCity CEO resigns

Jos Vella

Sep 30th 2009, 22:01

@mr critien
decades ago that you mention represent the start of developing Malta; Malta grew out of those times and so did the Maltese. Governments were defeated democratically through elections and not through coupe d'etats as was the cases in other countries. If one had to compare this age with decades ago will prove you right, but let us not forget that we are still living in modern misery. Let's face it you mentioned the impossibility to get a telephone line at that time? Think about the present injustices; hbieb tal hbieb to get something done! don't you consider it as injustice the fact that during the recession european countries took the necessary steps to make life a bit easier to the people and in the Malta paradise as you depict it we have to pay hefty surcharges? Ejja ma ndahhkux...

Twanny Galea

Sep 30th 2009, 21:47

Don't worry Mr.Grech you won't stay long unemployed, we will find you a Ceo or chairman job in the very near future.

jmicallef

Sep 30th 2009, 14:57

Maybe if the whole area had been turned into an F1 GP track instead, we'd have gotten a better return.

Anyhow, I hope that the SmartCity project does succedd, for the good of one and all.

P debono

Sep 30th 2009, 08:10

Where have the advertisements of our "SmartIsland", "SmartWomen" and "SmartEverything" gone "Dr." Gonzi?

Muscat. Pat

Sep 29th 2009, 22:10

It seems as if the only "smart" thing about smart city was its smart launch during the elections. Nice catch Dr Gonzi!

J Brincat

Sep 29th 2009, 19:29

Hope this whole project is not just pie in the sky. We greatly need this investments becuase jobs are unfortunately drying up at a fast rate. Moreover, many students chose IT in anticipation of Smart city.

Tonio Bone

Sep 29th 2009, 16:04

Well, for the time being the fate of SmartCity is pure speculation. What I do notice however is how the same prominent person seems to pop up in every controversy that forms part of our comical political scenario. I mean seriously.....SmartCity CEO ex-minister's secretary, huge losses at the shipyards on repair projects, the expansion of the Delimara Power Station contract! I mean I have memories of Lorry Sant creating havoc, do we have another similar character in the offing?

John Micallef

Sep 29th 2009, 15:57

To everybody ! YOU CANNOT MISS WHAT YOU DONT HAVE ANYWAY !

A. Mifsud

Sep 29th 2009, 15:06

Rumours that the project is on the verge to fall apart have been going on for quite some time now. If this proves to be the future of Smartcity it will be a severe blow to us all, and not just Gonzi's government. In most probability Gonzi's government will fail to get re elected to office, be it with or without the smartcity issue. However if such a decision to scrap the project is an outright move by the investors (Tecom), there is little reason why it is just the Government who has to take the blame. The credit crunch could have done it's part too afterall, and it's no flash news that investors in the middle east have been the hardest hit. I'm in no way trying to coverup the Government's responsabilities - but if (and I say if ) this project will indeed fall apart it would be good to know what were the counter measures (in form of financial penalties or whatever) did the Goverment take to safeguard the national interests during the negotiations phase. Could Tecom's shares in GO plc (with the state regaining control of the company), be really at stake, if I may ask?

julian caruana

Sep 29th 2009, 12:38

@ Gonzipn

ten out of ten for the way you sold this to us ths dream before the election, smart city dream is fading away no matter what all other nationalist like me are saying. very bad timing for a news like this..... I am afraid more will follow by end of the year.

cant believe how I was so naive and gullible.....

Gianni Xuereb

Sep 29th 2009, 12:26

@Kevin Borg:
Were they having an election in Cyprus ? An advert of a new airport at the airport is justified. But not Smart City PLEASE..

Nauseating because it was simple pre-election propoganda. In fact once the election was over they simply took it away! Not even one mention of Smart City, not even the glimpse of the model at the airport.

I'm a businessman myself and I have invested my life in this island. The last thing you can call me is an 80's socialist. You offend me this way, seriously. But no one ever came to me giving me massive amounts of land for a few bucks or even for free to build concrete monsters. The promise that smart City will employ 6000 new jobs is fading away slowly slowly (as I suspected from the very start) and it will just end up in real estate. I hope I am wrong.

Enjoy your blue kingdom while it lasts....

Andrew Agius

Sep 29th 2009, 10:49

"Although I have contributed enormously to what it is today,"

What an incredibly modest man. Come now Mr Grech, say what you really mean, no need to hide your light under a bushel!

Steve Evans

Sep 29th 2009, 09:51

www.pgaresort.com another possible idea to the site.

Charles Zammit

Sep 29th 2009, 08:36

As for the resignation of Mr. Grech I sincerely hope that this is not the beginning of the end. This resignation follows others that occurred at Smart city fairly recently. Tecom owe the Maltese public some explanation. Their silence is deafening and contributes more to the negative image gained through their other investment in Malta.

@ Mr. Martinelli

Your contributions here are simply pathetic. Do you consider making your contributions factual for a change?

@ Mr. Criten
Anybody (irrespective of political beliefs) was free to join the labour corps to earn a living. The labour corps provided quick jobs for people seeking employment (albeit a temporary one till better jobs are provided). Have you forgotten what the PN's alternatives were in the years preceding the period you refer to? The PN had organised mass exodus of Maltese men and their families. In contrast Labour had sought ways to keep talent here so that we could have Air Malta and the host of other entrepreneurial projects that followed. You know those companies that Gonzipn had sold to foreign companies to patch up part of the structural deficit we are now plagued with.

Jonathan Attard

Sep 29th 2009, 00:06

Ok,the project may not be going quite as planned.Globalisation results in shifting industry trends whether the project is Lawrence's or Joseph's pet.Completely unforseen was a global recession that was just what our country needed!What bothers me the most is that some people closed their eyes completely in 1987 so as to be purposely oblivious to the massive strides this country has made.Some even gave the cheek to take it all for granted as if their party would have done it anyway while we all know what the 1996-98 years were like.Talk about eyes wide shut!

S Sammut

Sep 28th 2009, 22:24

I've said this on other posts re-"Smart-City".
I suspect that is is going to be more a "smart" hospitality(hotels, restuarants ETC) and property developement "project" rather then using the space for IT oriented offices!

S. Camilleri

Sep 28th 2009, 22:04

Whatever the motivation, Manuel Micallef has hit the nail on the head!! 22 years of PN and the only real feather in the cap is Lufthansa Teknik. The rest is hot air. Very Sad but true... too true. And just in case some wise guy thinks I am some sort of "brain washed LP supporter", for the record I have voted PN every time they won an election these last 22 years!! Something, I regret to say, I will not do again.

Kevin Borg

Sep 28th 2009, 22:00

@ Gianni Xuereb
'They even put a model at the airport. Can it get more nauseating than that ?'.

Can anyone explain to me why a model at an airport is nauseating? This summer I visitied Cyprus, and at their airport they had several project adverts, including one of the new airport they are building. Projects like these are placed at airports so that visitors with a keen eye for investment will be attracthed to invest in a country that is on the rising curve of development. But Mr.Xuereb felt nausiated. As I said in an earlier post such news is treated with a parochial attitude.

Another comment from Mr.Xuereb was ' u xi hadd jispicca jhaxxen butu mhux ftit'. A typical 80's socialist comment against the people who invest their time and money in our island.

And as for the question 'Remember 2008?' the reply is; Do you remember that in the last months of 2008 and early 2009 the world faced the worst financial crisis since 1930. Don't you think that such a crisis can affect financial targets, or are you of the opinion that Gonzi knew it was coming and obscured the news to win the election?

Rowena Scicluna

Sep 28th 2009, 21:42

Does anyone remember this article of a month ago?:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090830/local/mystery-shrouds-future-of-smart-citys-ceo
I think something is definitely not going as planned...

manuel micallef

Sep 28th 2009, 21:34

@ Albert critien;

perhapa time to move on mate? you are mentioning staff from 3 to 4 decades ago;

I can mention the "interdett" - but wouldn't as today no body cares (and good that wse moved on).

you are stuck in the past and you think that past gives you the right not to govern forever with criticism.

Marisa Micallef gave you an example.

philip pace

Sep 28th 2009, 20:56

Whenever a CEO resigns most probably it is due to different opinions/targets.

If Mr.Claudio Grech mentioned the phrase 'diverging operating views' it is enough for one to understand what it means.

He was the CEO and they ordered him to jump. Normal CEOs when faced with something similar they weakly reply 'How much high do you want me to jump?'.

In all fairness, he was a man enough to say no and he said this in the open.

In all fairness, a wide opening crack has appeared in this project.

Let us wait and hear what shall be the Government statement about this so that we can be convinced!

Any more cracks?

Albert Critien

Sep 28th 2009, 20:22

@ Manuel Micallef. It seems that time has made you forget all the ills of the past, do you recall Dirghajn il Maltin and many other limbs of the Maltin, for the Maltese to go home with a meagre sum of money to feed their families, do you recall the impossibility to obtain a telephone line,imagine other means of communication.
Believe me had I been that unfortunate to be a labourite I would be ashamed to pass a comment.

Gianni Xuereb

Sep 28th 2009, 20:13

@Jason Scerri, Kevin Borg, J Martinelli, Hector Mamo et al: The project is still on but defenitely something is not going as planned.

You simply cannot blame people like Manuel Micallef, since the project was used as a political ball, and this was only last year! We have been bombarded with so much propoganda about the project. They even put a model at the airport. Can it get more nauseating than that ?

Remember 2008 ?
1) Finanzi fis-sod
2) 25% Income tax
3) Smart City, Smart City, Smart City ad nauseum.
We forgot about these 3 points so quickly soon after the election that it seems like the election was 10 years ago!

I have always been skeptical about this project for the following reasons:
- I was seeing very little progress at the construction site
- I had the suspect that the whole project was just a cover up and it will end up another high profile real estate u xi hadd jispicca jhaxxen butu mhux ftit. Maybe these are the "diverging operating views" the CEO expressed.

How is Canada Martinelli ?

Manuel Micallef

Sep 28th 2009, 20:06

1st - I do hope Smart City is successful. I sincerely do, as for many young talents today the only alternative is to seek good opportunties abroad. I would like it to be that they at least have an good option to stay in their contry, somehting which doesn't exist at the moment.

2nd - It wasn't me who made Smart City a political weapon. GonziPN has decided to included it on Billboards and as part of the election campaign. That mean PN has political repsonsability for this to succeed, and since they used it for their propoganda , it is only fair that if it doesn't go as promised, we criticise them.

3rd. No resignation, in the world of business gives the exact reason why this has actually happened. They give "diplomatic reasons" which deviate from the truth. If they give the real reason, they can be liable for damages....

I hope I made myself clear, and I don't see anything wrong or incorrect with my comments...

Raymond Sammut

Sep 28th 2009, 20:04

I don't see any problems here. CEOs moving on occur regularly in the business world.

I am not a keen advocate of projects like SmartCity. I think that Malta could have made better use of the land. Nevertheless, now that a decision had been made, and that work has been progressing -- even if slower than expected -- one would wish Tecom success in return for their entrepreneurship. Nothing can be achieved without risk. Hopefully, a new CEO can be found; and to the satisfaction of shareholders.

J.Abela

Sep 28th 2009, 19:52

Can Mr. Grech explain in simple, plain non-diplomatic english the exact reason why he's stepping down? Is it because it's high time SmartCity owners took complete control over their project?

j.spiteri

Sep 28th 2009, 19:49

@J Martinelli
You in Malta or still in Canada?

j.spiteri

Sep 28th 2009, 19:48

@Manuel Micallef
Lufthansa Tecknik was initiated in Malta by the 1996-98 Labour Government.

Joe Fenech

Sep 28th 2009, 19:43

Pity you're quitting from such a successful project!

Deo Catania

Sep 28th 2009, 19:43

Xi farsa ohra ta' gonzipn gejja din, drajnih issa. @ Martinelli Failures are the order of the day under your beloved gonzipn. Mhux ta' b'xejn Dr. Alfred Sant kien isemmi il-hbieb tal-hbieb.

Jason Scerri

Sep 28th 2009, 19:32

@Kevin Borg

Bravo!! You hit the nail on the head. Sad but ture.

Stephen Grech

Sep 28th 2009, 19:27

May I ask what is so wrong with Mr Micallef comment.?

If someone promises something and does not deliver, whose fault is it may I ask?.
It seems that the norm has became that the people running the show never take responsibility for the end result, and then some fanatic supporter tries to justify every negative result.

If you spit upright, most probably it will end up in your face my grand father used to say...
If someone boasted of such extreme jobs opportunities to make political gains, then he should bare such political responsibility.

Long gone the days that for every mishap, Dr Alfred Sant is to blame.

J. Azzopardi

Sep 28th 2009, 19:11

qed inxomm li l-progett spicca mill-magnitude li kien intqal li se jkun, u t-tluq ta Claudio u d-divergenza li jidher li kellu ma tawgurax affarijiet sbieh. Il-bierah smajt b'din u ma emmintx li hu hekk, imma minn dak li qal Grech stess jidholli dubju kemm il-futur se jkun kif gie mpengi fil-bidu.
J'Alla le.

J Martinelli

Sep 28th 2009, 19:06

@ Manuel Micallef

Your comments are typical of brain washed LP supporters who take delight in failures and not successes.

Typical doom and gloom sponsored by the Partit tal-LE.

Negativism at its worst. - You just have to wait and see.

Kevin Borg

Sep 28th 2009, 18:43

@ Mr.Micallef

Reading between the lines of your comments one can easily determine the amount of tears you are shedding for such a loss. Sometimes I wonder how this country has managed to develop up to this point this shallow attitude in more than half of its population. And I am not joking nor exaggerating. One can easily see on international news channels such as Sky what the reaction of a Briton would be if this case was unfolding in Britain. Apart from their political belief they would surely be stunned and sad at such news. This was the case when it was announced last week that Vauxhall will be terminating thousands of jobs. I saw no one from the conservatives party supporters speak or write on any blog with such a euphoric tone as Mr.Micallef here is writing.

This attitude shows the sense of belonging to the country our citizens have. They treat such news with a parochial attitude we usually see in rival village feast supporters. No wonder this country can never really move forward and is always threading the periphery of the circle without reaching anywhere!

Manuel Micallef

Sep 28th 2009, 18:04

WOW!! - it seems to me that Smart Malta is crumbling before it even started....

I would say that if it does crumble, there should be political responsibility too - we cannot forget the billboards promising 6000 highly paid jobs which PN was promising before the election....

Parole si, Fatti No!! PN was always a day dreamer - time to stop talking and start working and delivering after 25 years!!

If you remove Lufthansa, I cannot think of any other foreign investment worth mentioning which the PN started off during the whole 25 years...