The Qala council is calling for urgent meetings with the Prime Minister, Gozo Minister and the Privatisation Unit over the proposed mega-development and cruise liner terminal earmarked for the Gozitan village.

The council, which a few years ago fought tooth and nail against a similar development in another picturesque area of the locality, Ħondoq ir-Rummien, has not yet taken a position on the latest development, as it seeks to gather more information.

However, Qala councillors from both sides of the political divide expressed surprise at the proposal and its details, revealed by The Times of Malta last week.

“We have absolutely no clue about this mega-development. The council has been kept in complete darkness and we are seeking information to see what’s going on,” a PN councillor said when contacted.

“This came as a big surprise and we cannot imagine how this mega-development can take place here. However, before expressing our opinion we must first seek more details. The government has not told us anything so far,” a Labour councillor said.

When asked about these plans, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat played down the news leaked by the Italian architects and said no final decision had yet been taken.

Details of the 220,000 square metre cruise liner terminal facility, which will include a yacht marina and promenade, a hotel and the development of apartments and villas on the foreshore, were mistakenly unveiled by the Italian architects, who published the designs on their website.

Although the process of adjudication of expressions of interest is still under way, the architects said Kalamarine Developments Consortium was expected to start the project next year.

Last Monday the local council held an urgent meeting with residents, during which the Labour mayor, Clint Camilleri, is said to have observed that the cruise liner terminal had been promised by Labour in its electoral programme.

However, those present said the government did not promise real estate development as part of the project.

Efforts by this newspaper to contact Mr Camilleri, an architect who works with the Gozo Ministry, had been unsuccessful by the time of going to print.

Objections have also been raised by the farmers who till their fields in the vicinity of the quarries where the project is earmarked for development.

The shareholders of Kalamarine Developments Consortium are not yet known. However, this newspaper is informed that Gatt Construction Ltd, the owner of one of the two hardstone quarries in the area, is considered to be the main promoters of the development.

The other quarry is owned by Road Construction Ltd, which has already distanced itself from the project.