It is extremely worrying that swathes of public land, Malta's scarcest and most precious resource, is being siphoned from the people and given for private profits, a pressure group said today. 

Moviment Graffitti expressed its strong disapproval with the government's decision to transfer public land, currently occupied by the Institute for Tourism Studies to a private company.

The government will be making, at least, a €14 million loss from this deal since it will have to relocate ITS to SmartCity at a cost of €74 million, Graffitti said in a statement.

The public land in St Julian's will be transferred for only €60 million, despite having been valued at around €212 million in the Paceville Masterplan draft.

"The Seabank deal benefits exclusively a few business interests at the expense of the rest. It is the continuation of the unfortunate and unrelenting transfer of public land for private interests carried out by different administrations.”

Graffitti added: "The 'trickle-down' justification that such deals benefit everyone due to job creation does not hold much water."

Constructing hundreds of luxury apartments and facilities for the super-rich, in a context where most Maltese are struggling to rent or buy a most basic home, might create a few low-paid jobs in the short-term; in the long-term it only means that the land in question, and its potential for social and economic development, is forever lost to private gains.

The NGO listed pieces of land given to private companies to justify their cause, including Tigne Point, Manoel Island, Portomaso, SmartCity, Żonqor and Dock 1.

It concluded: “The Seabank deal also raises several environmental concerns. A massive development will occur in an already congested area, and in the absence of a holistic plan for development, with a negative impact on the surrounding communities and the seashore.”