The Malta Developers’ Association is objecting to the manner in which the ex-ITS site deal was valued and passed on to the Seabank Group for €15 million, the Times of Malta is informed.
The association has uncharacteristically kept a low profile since the Prime Minister’s announcement of the mega project last month, however, its president, Sandro Chetcuti, yesterday told Times of Malta the MDA did not agree with how the land in question was valued.
“The MDA has already held meetings with Deloitte, which made the ITS valuation. We made it clear from the start we disagreed with the methodology used,” he said.
Deloitte, a reputable financial advisory firm, was commissioned by the government halfway through the process to assess the proposal made by the Seabank Group.
Deloitte said that the methodology it used to evaluate the land but also on its potential uses and purposes.
When the deal was announced, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Seabank Group chairman Silvio Debono had said the developer would be paying €60 million for the ‘golden mile’ site. Documents published later indicated that the group would, in fact, only be paying a premium of €15 million staggered over a number of years.
When asked whether the MDA agreed that the prime site in St George’s Bay was sold on the cheap, Mr Chetcuti refused to reply, invoking ‘ethical issues’ since the Seabank Group is a member of his association.
We have made our position very clear with the authorities
“We have discussed the issue internally and we have made our position very clear with the authorities,” Mr Chetcuti said without going into details.
Various developers members of the MDA have already expressed their anger with this newspaper on the deal struck between Seabank and the government for the sale of 24,000 square metres of developable prime area.
Dubbing the price agreed between the government and Seabank as “obscene”, entrepreneurs in the property development industry accused the government of unfair competition in the sale of public land, especially with regard those having other development projects in the area. The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association had also expressed concern, with hoteliers referring to the price of €50 per square metre of the hotel space given to Seabank as “ridiculous”.
Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil said over the weekend the party would formally ask the National Audit Office to investigate the deal.
The group was the only bidder for the valuable piece of land following a request for tender proposals issued by the government in 2015.
The government is refusing to out the deal struck with Seabank to parliamentary scrutiny arguing the deal was agreed to following a call for tenders.
Apart from building a 300-room hotel, a shopping mall and leisure facilities, Seabank is also proposing two towers with 209 luxury apartments for sale.
The group paid €5 million on the signing of the contract and will have to pay the remaining €10 million in yearly instalments over the next seven years, interest free.
The government has slashed the ground rent due from €1.6 million to €1,000 a year until the completion of the project.