The Nationalist Party was out in full force yesterday to oppose the use of land falling outside development zone for a new university and to propose alternative sites, but these were immediately shot down by government.
Party leader Simon Busuttil said it was unnecessary to use pristine land on the coast for a university and suggested the former St Luke’s Hospital in Pieta, the former Dowty factory in Mrieħel and the old Petroleum Division in Birżebbuġa as possible alternatives.
“It’s not true that it’s necessary to build a university on prime coastal land. Why is the government insisting on this land?” Dr Busuttil said during a news conference on the project in Marsascala.
Reacting a few hours later, the government said the Opposition was again critical of an investment project. While the government remained open to suggestions on alternative sites, Economy Minister Chris Cardona said those proposed by the PN were not feasible.
He said the former hospital had already been allocated to a private public partnership in the health sector, the Birżebbuġa site was in the process of being cleaned up thanks to a Labour government, and an industrial estate should host factories not universities.
The Opposition then criticised the government’s haste to bash PN suggestions, saying this was the moment of truth for Joseph Muscat: “Is this really a government that listens?”
The PN said investment was welcome but it was taking a strong stand against the use of an ODZ site. If the Prime Minister was ready to give this to developers the message was clear: the whole of Malta and Gozo was a development zone.
Dr Busuttil called on citizens who have the environment at heart to raise their voice for the site’s protection, saying the PN was taking a stand against environmental destruction.
“This is pristine land. Our task is not to build it but to protect it. I appeal to environmental and civil society organisations and every single citizen who wants to see our environment respected to raise their voice.”
He was flanked by several elected representatives in a show of force against the project, including environment shadow minister Marthese Portelli, education shadow minister Therese Comodini Cachia, economy shadow minister Claudio Grech and planning spokesman Ryan Callus.
They were joined by several PN councillors representing different localities in the south who pointed out that the land allocated to the university was about one and a half times the area of Żonqor.
Dr Busuttil also referred to the farmers’ fear that they would lose their livelihood, noting The Sunday Times of Malta had exposed the fact they had not even been consulted. “We are the ones defending them and the land.”
The government in turn said the Opposition remained critical, in the same way it had opposed Chinese investment in Enemalta, the citizenship scheme and the investment that attracted Barts Medical School, among others.
Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said: “It is clear Dr Busuttil is against change and new opportunities and only in favour of the status quo.”
Environment Minister Leo Brincat defended the use of the targeted ODZ land, saying it was a positive development compared to the polluting plants the former administration had placed in the south.
He referred to the allocation of ODZ land for the Barkat sewage treatment plant even though the facility has a positive environmental impact stemming the flow of untreated sewage into the sea. He also criticised the locations of the recycling plant and the power station using “the most polluting fuel”.
He noted the PN leader did not mention the natural park that would be next to the university.
However, the Environment Minister did not mention the fact that the university site is partly based on land that had already been allocated to the park in the local plan.
Meanwhile, Mepa remains at the centre of controversy, with the Opposition leader asking how the planning authority could remain impartial in the process when it was the one to suggest development on ODZ land.