Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was given an enthusiastic welcome this morning by a large crowd which overspilled a large tent which the Labour Party set up in Marsascala for the usual Sunday morning activity.
Dr Muscat said Labour had promised two years ago to raise standards in the south and redress the balance with the rest of the country. Now was the moment of truth.
The imbalance, he said, was historically always against the south socially and economically.
It was true, he said, that some honest and genuine people were concerned about the plans for the new university in Marsascala. The governemnt was prepared to listen and to change, where that was necessary. He expected others to do likewise.
There was no doubt that another university was needed in Malta. One could no longer have a monopoly in higher education, although some had an interest in keeping a closed shop. Malta could not continue to remain the only country in Europe with just one university. The time of monopolies was past.
The governemnt would continue to remain responsible for funding the University of Malta and funding over the past two years was a record.
However there was need for choice, and for a mixing of cultures.
When the government found an investor ready to plough €120 million on a new university in Malta with an 'intrinsic link' to a university in the United States, the government grabbed the opportunity.
In a speech frequently interrupted by standing ovations, Dr Muscat said the PN had been against saving Enemalta, it had been against the IIP and the hospital in Gozo and one was therefore not surprised about its objections to the new university.
LOCATION OF UNIVERSITY
The government, Dr Muscat said, was a government of all the country. When the Barts investment came about, Gozo was chosen. Next week a major private investor would announce a major new investment in the North - not on an ODZ he joked.
The government was well aware of the polluting investments made in the past in the south of Malta. He had resisted the setting up of the waste treatment plant in Marsascala.
If the south was good enough for that plant, it was good enough for a University.
His message to those genuinely concerned about the siting of the university wasthat his only interest was that there should be a new university and that it should be in the south. Everything else could be discussed.
The government had indicated the site immediately, even before the heads of agreement was signed, to get the discussion going. The site needed to be about 90 tomna of which half would be built. The building would be spread out and the structures would not be higher than three storeys high. Did anyone want something different? The fields in Zonqor will remain there and be incorporated in the national park which would also be set up.
If anybody had a suggestion for a different site, the government was prepared to listen, as long as the alternative was in the south.
In a gesture of good will the government was appealing to anybody having any idea to bring it forward. The way the ideas would be considered would be open in an unprecedented manner - the work done by Mepa would be open for all. The important thing, however, was that the project had to be realised.
However he hoped the ideas would be better than those mentioned by Opposition leader Simon Busuttil. He had mentioned three sites, of which two were not even in the south.
Dr Busuttil mentioned the area of the former Dowty. But then, Dr Muscat said, where would one put the factories, in Sliema?
He had then mentioned St Luke's, but that site was earmarked for another €200 million hospital project because Mater Dei, built on ODZ by the former government, was not big enough. If the university went to St Luke's where woudl the new hospital go?
Dr Busuttil's third proposal, an interesting one, was to replace the old fuel tanks in Birzebbuga. But it would take two years to remove the tanks, and the university investors wanted their site now.
As for looking at private property, the government was prepared to discuss the issue, but did the people want a return to the time when the government suddenly took over their property?
The government's view was there should be no development on ODZ except for education and health, the same policy adopted by the previous government. Yet the former government had allowed building in ODZ for a supermarket, hotels, part of Smart city and part of Hal Farh.
Did anyone want to change the policy? If the policy would not apply for the new university, it would also apply for everything else. He listed four schools built in ODZ as well as Multigas, Mellieha old people's home, and Polygas.
Nonetheless, he said, the government would seriously consider alternative sites for the new university. "Get involved in the process, help as find a new site or help us make this an environment-friendly project" Dr Muscat said, while adding that according to a report by economist Gordon Cordina, the new university would yield €70m a year to the south of Malta.
The former government, he said, had ignored the people's protests when it spent €100 million on building a new parliament on a public square in Valletta.
Dr Muscat said he would listen and ultimately decide. He was optimistic that the project would be realised to benefit the south of Malta, he said to applause.