It’s not easy to write a column about a different topic when the entire country is fixated about nudist clubs in Dusseldorf, but – for the sake of variety and to spare you from further visuals – I’ll try.
So last Thursday we were given the exciting news that the country would soon be graced with “the most sophisticated place to go in Malta”. This pinnacle of sophistication is to be reached at City Centre in St George’s Bay, where there will be three hotels in one (so thrilling!). Apparently one of the hotels is to be exclusively for adults, and presumably, sophisticated adult entertainment (no – not the Dusseldorf kind).
The site is currently taken up by the Institute of Tourism Studies. This will be shunted to that white elephant Smart City. The ITS move to oblivion will cost the taxpayer €74 million and will involve the construction of a high-rise hotel in the not-so-secret plan to commercialise the coast of Malta.
The land at St George’s Bay will be granted to the developer on emphyteusis for €60 million on condition that the ground rent will be changed if the revised Paceville master plan allows more development on the site.
This last condition is being made to sound as if the government is being terribly strict about how it hands out public land. But really it’s only obvious that if someone can intensify his use and development of public land, he should jolly well cough up a bit more of the profits he’s creaming.
A point which has been somewhat ignored in all the excitement about this sophisticated spot is that the very same land had a value of some €212 million, according to the Paceville master plan. This had stated that land comprising part of the ITS site and the Corinthia Marina Hotel was valued at €8,500 per square metre. The authors of the report indicated that the valuation prices for eventual expropriation were “provided by Malta Government”.
The ITS move to oblivion will cost the taxpayer €74 million and will involve the construction of a high-rise hotel in the not-so-secret plan to commercialise the coast of Malta
Now – a couple of months down the line – prime coastal real estate has been valued at less than a third of that evaluation.
You really wonder what’s what.
■ A friend of mine was rather perplexed when her five-year-old daughter was invited to a spa party. The entertainment was to consist of mini-manicures and pedicures for “pretty peepers”. There was also the option of a mini-facial, a massage, an updo, nail art and a make-up lesson. That’s right, a make-up lesson for five-year-old girls with their glowing rosy skin and shiny eyes. And having their hair tortured into a bouffant updo when they all look so beautiful in their simplicity with wayward curls or even bad haircuts.
Should pre-grade children be bothered about having perfectly-shaped nails and nail art when they should be messing about with paint and plasticine?
Apparently such spa parties help in giving girls the first lessons about hygiene and grooming. That’s what it says in the blurb anyway. I think that bombarding primary school girls with messages about the necessity of cleansing their skin or “maintenance” (the dreaded word used by the beauty industry) at such an early age, isn’t really teaching them about hygiene. It’s more about priming them to be lifelong consumers of the beauty industry and planting the idea that they will need a plethora of potions, lotions and creams to look and feel good.
Hygiene doesn’t have to include facials – especially when you’re in first grade. It’s more about a good scrub and brushing your teeth.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with a fun nail colour or zany braids for little girls, but grooming them into Kardashian consumer clones is a bit much.
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