The proposal for three hotels on land outside development zones in the south is just an excuse to open up a stretch of virgin countryside for development, NGOs have warned.

Times of Malta yesterday revealed details of a briefing paper prepared by the government’s privatisation unit proposing three hotels on a stretch of land from Smart City to Żonqor Point. A promenade and a beach club are included in the plans, all built on public land.

“Having a briefing paper prepared by the government’s privatisation unit proposing a massive development in ODZ is nothing short of shameful and indicates who is running this country,” said Friends of the Earth chairman Martin Galea de Giovanni.

Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar said the fact that the government privatisation unit was presenting this proposal showed the authorities had no vision for integrated coastal planning or creativity to produce a different tourism product and strategy that would have provided a new and diverse experience and more sustainable benefits for the community.

The Jerma Palace Hotel on the opposite peninsula remains abandoned but the briefing paper makes no reference to incentives to revive it.More on Times of Malta. See also http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20141107/local/three-hotels-planned-on-odz-land-in-south.542982

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