Prime Minister Joseph Muscat yesterday went to Marsascala to rally support for the proposed university on undeveloped land at Żonqor Point, saying that, though the government was open to consider other sites, “the project will go ahead”.
The venue of yesterday’s activity seemed to have been specifically chosen to “reassure” Marsascala residents why the planned Jordanian investment to open the American University of Malta should take place in the south.
All that people from the south got in the past were power stations, recycling and sewage treatment plants. “If others gave you rubbish, we are giving you wealth,” Dr Muscat told a huge, enthusiastic crowd, as he quoted a report by leading economist Gordon Cordina, which estimates the project will have a return of about €70 million a year.
Still, he insisted the decision on the choice of site was not cast in stone, adding that the government was open to consider alternatives to Żonqor Point.
“I urge people to come forward with suitable alternative sites but on condition they are in the south. We will seriously consider any suitable alternatives. I call on genuine people who agree with the project but are concerned over the site to help us,” he said.
If others gave you rubbish, we are giving you wealth
Dr Muscat added: “We are open to ideas but I will not allow this investment to die a natural death. The responsibility to listen is mine but I also have the responsibility to decide. We can bring the biggest coalition with us and put the south back on its feet.”
He said farmers worried that their lands would be taken away from them to build a national natural park, adjacent to the university site, had nothing to worry about.
He referred to criticism that the government did not consult enough, arguing there was nothing to discuss so far because a formal contract had not been signed.
The government signed what is known as a heads of agreement two weeks ago with the Jordanian construction and hospitality firm, Sadeen Group. The document represents a statement of intent, which is non-binding.
Dr Muscat promised that the University of Malta would not suffer as a result of the new project. “A foreign investor investing his money in the university means government money will continue to go to the Maltese university, which will not be denied a single cent,” he said. Malta could not continue to be the only country in Europe with a monopoly in tertiary education, he added.
He said he was not impressed with the three alternative sites proposed by the Opposition, saying two of them were not in the south and the third, on the site of the Birżebbuġa oil storage facility now being dismantled, was not viable, given timelines.
He argued that development outside development zones, allowed within guidelines established under previous administrations, was permitted only for education and health projects. Even Mater Dei Hospital was built on land outside the building boundaries, he pointed out.
Dr Muscat mentioned several examples of development in ODZ such as supermarkets, gas plants and newly-built schools. There was also an application for two Church schools to be built on virgin land in Għaxaq, he said.