The government’s decision to push the so-called American University of Malta, earmarked for Marsascala, is symptomatic of much that is wrong with Joseph Muscat’s administration.
For the past two years, Malta has been run by a government with a focus on mega projects that sees the environment as nothing more than a cash cow. We are increasingly seeing a government trying to sell us half-truths to promote projects shrouded in secrecy.
On paper, paving the way for a new university is a very positive initiative. But it’s one thing to cut bureaucracy to ease investment, it’s another to bend over backwards to sell the country’s jewels at give-away prices.
We have been told the Jordanian investor was given the option to build a university the size of 12 football pitches on ODZ land in Żonqor because it is cheaper and, to boot, Mepa has already deemed the site identified for the campus acceptable. The government’s pledge to build a park adjacent to the university is nothing more than the template sugar-coating to which we have now become all too accustomed.
The government sees the environment as something to milk dry because it thinks it could benefit the economy. It probably will in the short-term, but the government refuses to acknowledge the implications of disappearing open spaces and the effects of dust and pollution on the nation’s health.
Also, the government is once again failing to see the cost of construction to the biggest contributor to the economy – tourism.
We are hearing the ridiculous mantra that the Żonqor land is derelict. In other words, if the land is shabby, may as well build on it.
Beyond the environmental implications, what is also worrying is the lack of realistic targets.
We’ve been told the university would cater for 4,000 students and create 400 jobs. The American University in Dubai took several years to grow to 3,000 students. Would Arab students forego American-style universities closer to them, and come to Malta for four doctoral programmes?
The numbers of jobs being bandied are reminiscent of the ones claimed by the previous administration for Smart City, and we all know what happened there. So can anyone blame the public to fear this will eventually become nothing more than another real estate project?
Can anyone blame the public for questioning transparency? The Jordanian investor [a developer with no expertise in administering educational establishments] said Dr Muscat convinced him to invest in Malta in no time. In return for what? In an interview with this newspaper today, Dr Muscat said his government would stick its neck out to make this project happen.
The government should stop passing this off as a public investment in tertiary education when it isn’t. Nor is it likely to regenerate the south as is being claimed.
Once again, the government has put the cart before the horse: the project was announced with pomp when no environmental assessments were carried out, knowing that permits for such projects are usually nigh on impossible to obtain and with no consultation with stakeholders.
The problem with this project is that it is not really about education. It’s about selling the idea of education for someone who sees a money-making opportunity.
We cannot sell everything. We’re selling our passports, we’re preparing to go for land reclamation, and we are prepared to grant access to every inch of the island if someone shows us the money.
Luckily a growing number of Maltese people understand the true price of selling Malta to speculation and are prepared to make their voices heard.