MDA president Sandro Chetcuti. Photos: Chris Sant Fournier

The stretch of virgin public land Outside Development Zones earmarked for three hotels in a government brief is “a shabby and unused” area where development would be of benefit, according to Malta Developers Association president Sandro Chetcuti.

Mr Chetcuti told The Sunday Times of Malta the development of hotels on public land stretching from Smart City to Żonqor Point should be considered positively from an economic and job creation perspective.

This newspaper revealed last week that the brief for the “regeneration of the south” was prepared by the government privatisation unit on the request of the chairman of the Consultative Council for the South, Labour MP Silvio Parnis, who also backs the project. The only proposal so far is the building of three hotels.

The proposal will be discussed at the next meeting on Thursday. Council members include Mr Chetcuti, although he stressed he was appointed in his personal capacity, not as MDA president.

“We need to find a way to attract tourism to the south. In my opinion there are a number of shabby, unused and abandoned areas in the south. These areas are not good for agricultural purposes or to be enjoyed as open countryside,” Mr Chetcuti said.

While finding no objection to the construction of hotels on ODZ land, he objected to residential developments in such areas.

A curtain of cement to an otherwise pristine coast

The Sunday Times of Malta pointed out that Smart City already has an outline development permit for 73,500 square metres for hospitality development, reserved for a five-star, a four-star and a three-star hotel and serviced accommodation. If the brief gets approval, it would mean six hotels would eventually be built on the same stretch of coastal land.

Mr Chetcuti replied that Smart City has not yet submitted an application for development and the hotels are needed now.

“I agree that Smart City project will upgrade economic activity in the south – whenever it is completed. Unfortunately there is no indication as yet that any hotel in Smart City is in the pipeline,” he said.

The government brief proposes the transfer of public land to the private sector via 99-year concessions to build a five-star hotel close to Smart City, a boutique hotel located in Fort St Leonard and an iconic hotel at Żonqor Point in Marsascala.

It is the same stretch of coast that had been targeted for development by Labour MP Lorry Sant under past PL administrations. Such transfer of public land would now require approval by the House of Representatives.

Several online comments questioned why the first step to the regeneration of the south was not focused on the revamp of the abandoned Jerma Palace Hotel in Marsascala, rather than development on pristine land. But Mr Chetcuti said the issue was not that simple.

“I have always supported the regeneration of the Jerma Hotel. But as a result of the 2006 local plan the area could be developed for other purposes and the previous owners could sell at a price that reflects its potential rather than run a hotel. The site is privately owned and the State cannot force the owners to regenerate it as a hotel,” he said.

Mr Chetcuti denied concerns raised by NGOs that the south would become another Buġibba saying “we have learnt from our mistakes”.

But NGO Din l-Art Ħelwa said the proposal showed the south wanted to emulate Buġibba when it could serve as a model of sustainability by finding an architectural style that “continues our own vernacular in the modern idiom”.

President Simone Mizzi said: “Three more hotels along the southern shore would bring a curtain of cement to an otherwise pristine coast, reduce public access to the foreshore and require its remodelling to include lidos, no doubt with some land reclamation along the way”.