Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said this morning that the prime minister’s quick rejection of the PN proposal for the site of the former Petroleum Division in Birzebbuga to be used for the new university in the south showed how the government was committed to having the project in Zonqor, Marsascala.
Dr Busuttil, speaking in Balzan, said it was manifestly not true that the government would consider alternative sites for the new university.
The site of the former Petroleum Division in Birzebbuga was enormous. The fact that Dr Muscat had said it was unsuitable because it would take two years to remove the old fuel tanks only showed sheer incompetence.
True, one could not build a power station within two years, Dr Busuttil said to applause, but couldn’t fuel tanks be removed in two years?
The PN, he said, had lost all confidence in Mepa, which it viewed as a toy in the prime minister’s hands. This supposed guardian of the environment had itself proposed virgin land in Zonqor for the new university and then it would consider the development application. This, he said, was a dangerous precedent.
He urged the government and Dr Muscat to reconsider – but not to ask William Mangion to search for the new site because he was still looking for a garage for bands after two years.
The PN, he said, would back the government if a proper site for the university was found. If not, the PN would act as a shield to defend the people and the country’s environment. The environment NGOs should also unite in their stand against the Zonqor proposal.
Earlier, Nationalist MP Mario Galea asked if it was true that just over a month ago, during a wedding reception, a person who used to be close to Lorry Sant and is very close to the Labour Party, had boasted that a major project was coming to Zonqor and he would make a lot of money from it.
Had this same man paid for IT systems in the PL headquarters?
Mr Galea said he knew what he was speaking about when he made these comments.
He also asked if Dr Muscat had met the Zonqor landowners. Had he met them before the election? What did he promise them?
Mr Galea said the PN would do all it could to stop development of Zonqor because the land was Taghna Lkoll.