These days, ‘fests’ are all the rage. Stick ‘fest’ onto any product or service of your choice, set up some stalls, tell the world that you’re open for business and wait for the crowds to flock to your door. In this vein we’ve had the perfectly delicious Nutellafest, a Ravjulfest which got the public reaching out for more, and a Bebbuxfest. Joseph Muscat’s government has decided to get in on the act with its very own Bulldozer and Destructionfest. Only it doesn’t go under that name.
The government is trying to palm off the unprecedented building frenzy of 90,000 square metres of ODZ land as a university campus investment project (The so-called American University of Malta situated near Żonqor), with a park thrown in as a sweetener. The sheer audacity of trying to mask a land grab of this proportion as a progressive move is breathtaking.
There are a many reasons why development of untouched land is a bad idea. This is a small, congested country with sparse green areas. The rationale of retaining tracts of land as ODZ is not a whimsical, romantic one supported only by sandal-wearing tree-huggers. It’s a necessity in a place of this size where towns and villages are merging into each other with barely a ribbon of greenery between them.
The previous PN administration did away with large swathes of ODZ land in its ‘rationalisation’ exercise. At that time, Labour MPs who are now cheering the prospect of the development of ODZ land, were up in arms against the rationalisation exercise. But that’s Malta for you – ‘Vote George, Vote Joseph – You always get Lorry’. If development of ODZ land was wrong then, it is wrong now – perhaps even more so, when the boundaries of land that can be developed is always being extended under some guise or other.
In this regard, it is extremely irritating to hear Labour exponents comparing this new building project to the construction of San Anton school in an ODZ area. Apart from the fact that the footprints are not comparable, it would be a good thing to point out that the San Anton school was approved in 1989 – practically a quarter of a decade ago, and a period of time during which the cementification of Malta has gone on unabated. More to the point, two wrongs don’t make a right. Neither do several thousands.
Investment in the south is welcome. Real estate projects disguised as investments are not
Another worrying aspect of the project is the lack of transparency of the whole process. The news that the Sadeen Group – a Jordanian construction company – intends to invest and build a campus on a massive tract of land is sprung upon us, with no indication of whether there were/are negotiations with other interested parties or whether any selection or tendering process took place.
From the Sadeen Group’s website it would appear that the company’s business is that of construction and the hospitality industry. The group’s expertise in the educational sector does not seem to extend beyond building schools – and hopefully is not commensurate with the badly written blurbs on the site. How and why was a construction company chosen to administer an academic institution?
We also learn that the Office of Mepa’s CEO Johann Buttigieg was responsible for identifying the ODZ site in Żonqor as acceptable for the proposed project. Isn’t it rather odd that a public entity like Mepa has to be carrying out this service for a private investor? So Willie Mangion is given a mission to seek out garages for bands while Mepa has to find untouched tracts of land for foreign construction companies to build over.
Another issue that needs to be cleared up is the identity of the people who own land included in the project. If there are such private landowners, the value of their hitherto ODZ land will rocket upwards with the stroke of a pen. It would be interesting to see who they are.
The Prime Minister has mentioned that there will be a park in the area. Unfortunately this smacks of being a sop to those who are dismayed at the cavalier attitude towards ODZ land. At present the area in question cannot be developed, so declaring it a natural park will not constitute a green gain. It remains to be seen what kind of park this will be. A couple of concrete paths, clipped shrubs and the inclusion of kiosks do not a park make.
And finally, a word to those decrying what they describe as ‘negativity’ greeting the project. Investment is welcome. Universities are welcome. Investment in the south is welcome. Real estate projects disguised as investments are not. Neither is talk about creating thousands of jobs specifically for people from the south. The last time we heard something similar was Austin Gatt’s announcement about Smart City.
Look at Smart City now – a hideous scar on the environment which is more ghost city housing some restaurants than a buzzing hub. At the moment it hosts a luna park – a luna park. Instead of being a ‘home to a vibrant knowledge-economy community anchored by leading global, regional and local companies’ it is home to bumping cars and rides.
Let’s just hope that somebody sees sense before it is too late.
cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt