Blame it on us, not on SmartCity -- ministry
SmartCity was bound to generate 400 jobs by 2010
The government’s failure to honour its side of the deal with SmartCity means the company has not yet defaulted on its contractual employment obligations, the IT Ministry has admitted.
The Times reported on Wednesday that, although the construction of the hi-tech village was on target, the number of new jobs generated fell well below the levels established by a 2007 government-commissioned study that said SmartCity should employ about 2,800 people by 2011.
In its reaction, the IT Ministry defended the project and insisted it was “ahead of schedule”. (See separate story)
It also pointed out that the 2007 contract with SmartCity stipulated that the first jobs had to be in place two years after the “closing date”, which had to be shifted because the government had not yet “fulfilled its obligations” to demolish the Wied Għammieq sewage pumping station on the site. “Water Services Corporation is still waiting for planning permits to demolish it,” the ministry said.
The government was contractually bound to remove the pumping station by the end of December 2008. By that date, the government also had to ensure that no sewage was being discharged in the area but this only stopped earlier this year when the new sewage treatment plant was inaugurated.
In the contract, the “closing date” is defined as the date when SmartCity “may lawfully start construction of the first phase”
The planning permit for the first phase was granted by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority in October 2008, which means that, by 2010, SmartCity was contractually bound to have generated 400 full-time jobs. However, the contract also stipulates that the “closing date” may be delayed if the government fails to adhere to its side of the bargain. SmartCity is contractually bound to generate 5,600 jobs, the vast majority in the “knowledge and IT” sectors, eight years after the “closing date”.
According to the schedule outlining the company’s em-ployment obligations, in the first three years after the “closing date”, SmartCity should generate 1,000 full time jobs increasing to 2,000 by the fourth year. So although SmartCity does not seem to have defaulted on its legal employment obligations, the hi-tech village has so far attracted only a few companies, some of which simply transferred their Malta office to Ricasoli.
Two companies, Saint James Hospital and Corinthia are not IT-related and they will operate a clinic and a bistro respectively.