The Opposition yesterday insisted that it wanted copies of the financial due diligence exercise carried out on the group set to build the American University of Malta, along with its audited accounts and net asset value.
The request was made as Parliament’s National Audit Office Accounts Committee continued to debate the contract for the transfer of land in Marsascala and Cospicua to the Jordanian-owned Sadeen Group for 99 years.
During the sitting ahead of today’s plenary session in Parliament to discuss the subject, Opposition MPs Tonio Fenech, Jason Azzopardi and Marthese Portelli claimed that the government breached its own planning laws when it chose Żonqor Point over a Tarxien site for the development.
The government is rushing to have the land transfer resolution approved by Parliament this week, before the House of Representatives breaks off for the Christmas recess.
The PN MPs asked to see the report on which the government had based its decision to discard the planning authority’s suggestion of turning a stretch of land in Tarxien as large as that of Żonqor point into a university campus.
Pressed by Dr Portelli, Labour MP Charles Mangion said the Żonqor Point land was “the more feasible option”. This decision, he said, was taken after carrying out several studies.
He stressed that the original project covered an area of 90,000 square metres but the government had reduced the footprint in the Outside Development Zone to just 18,000 square metres.
Dr Mangion and Education Minister Evarist Bartolo also defended the financial due diligence of the Sadeen Group. They resisted naming the company that had carried out the exercise, later admitting it had been entrusted to the Malta Financial Services Authority using foreign companies.
Mr Fenech asked whether the government would act as guarantor if the group ran into financial difficulties as it had done with Electrogas, which had to be given a €360 million guarantee in the project to build a new gas power plant.
Dr Mangion said that if the investors ran into financial difficulties, the contract could be dissolved.
Asked if there were penalty clauses in the contract, Mr Bartolo said the ultimate sanction was the dissolution of the contract.
Replying to questions about access to the foreshore at Żonqor Point and the Dock 1 promenade, Dr Mangion and Mr Bartolo assured the Opposition that access would remain unhindered to pedestrians, who could walk on the rocks and even hold barbeques in summer.
Answering questions about Sadeen’s educational credentials and its pending accreditation process, Mr Bartolo reiterated that the university project would only go ahead if the National Commission for Higher Education granted a licence.
The contract stipulates that Sadeen must obtain and maintain a licence to operate a university, failing which the contract will be deemed to be null.
The contract also binds Sadeen to use the land for educational purposes.
The American University of Malta is expected to take in its first students in October next year – subject to having all required permits and authorisations in hand.