The Malta Chamber of Commerce has welcomed the fact that the government, in reconsidering the location of the new American University of Malta, did not resort to the use of land designated for industrial purposes.

"Industrial land in Malta is in very short supply and the Chamber reiterates its stand that such land should not be considered for any other purpose."

The chamber said it was pleased that the area of ODZ land taken up for the project would be reduced.

"The Chamber would have preferred the use of ODZ land to be avoided completely with the project being located entirely in a retrofitted building or on land within an inside-scheme zone. That said, however, the Chamber is not in favour of rigid or prescriptive policies that could distort a decision-making process that could strike a positive balance between socio-economic growth and environmental safeguards through sustainable development."

On the siting of part of the campus in Cospicua, the Chamber said that while this would contribute to the economic and social regeneration of Cospicua, it could not be expected to single-handedly solve all the area’s problems.

On the other hand, the Chamber it said it had noted a lack of detail in the announced plans with respect to the project brief and safeguards necessary to prohibit any change of use of the project. Such safeguards are rendered all the more necessary in view of the prime sites being committed.

For the sake of good governance, the Chamber recommended that the government puts to good use the knowledge acquired from the current process to finalise a strategy that clearly identifies possible areas and locations to accommodate large-scale FDI projects in such a way that these dove tail with existent local plans so as to ensure a holistic approach to planning issues.