The Nationalist Party said on Tuesday it would vote against a deal allowing the Corinthia Group to develop public land in St George’s Bay, originally meant for tourism purposes only, into residential and commercial real estate.
Opposition whip Robert Cutajar on Tuesday also informed the House Business Committee, which agreed on the parliamentary agenda for the next two months, that the PN would insist on a fully-fledged debate over the controversial contract. Parliament resumes on Monday after the Christmas holidays.
The government had sought to rush through the deal, with deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne tabling a motion before the National Audit Office Accounts Committee a day before the House rose for the Christmas recess in which he sought a final vote of approval to be taken during the same session. However, Nationalist MPs Mario de Marco and Beppe Fenech Adami, who sit on the House Committee, asked for more time to delve into the details.
Corinthia Group chairman Alfred Pisani subsequently made a presentation about the project to the PN parliamentary group but, according to party sources, he failed to convince the Nationalist MPs.
Many of the MPs, including the party leader, clearly stated that the price the Corinthia Group will be paying for the public land was far too low. We cannot agree that public land is sold for peanuts and used for pure speculation. This is daylight robbery,” the sources added.
This is daylight robbery
Following Mr Cutajar’s declaration, Mr Fearne, who chairs the Committee, said a session would be held at a future date to continue the debate and take a formal vote.
According to parliamentary procedures, the Opposition’s vote against the deal will force the government to hold a debate in plenary followed by a final vote involving all MPs present. Approval or otherwise at this stage will be by simple majority.
Leaked details of the still unpublished draft contract negotiated by Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi and the Corinthia Group indicate that, while renouncing to agreements concluded in the 1990s granting the hotel chain a 99-year temporary emphyteusis to use a large area on the island’s ‘golden mile’ specifically for tourism purposes (hotels), the government accepted to lift a condition banning speculation of the public land in question.
The proposed deal, the Times of Malta learnt, would allow Corinthia to develop land the size of 14 football grounds into apartments, residences and commercial space, including offices, and sell them at commercial prices, running into millions of euros. The group, industry sources said, would be paying €17 million on very generous payment terms, with instalments possibly staggered over decades.
The deal also proposes that, for the first three years from the signing of the deed, Corinthia would pay the government €4 million, equivalent to what a couple of apartments in the same area would cost at present.
Dr Mizzi has conceded that the deal was based on the same lines as the one he had negotiated with the db Group with regard to an adjacent site where the Institute of Tourism Studies once stood. That deal is being investigated by the National Audit Office.
Estate agents told Times of Malta that the planned concession to the Corinthia Group for a premium of €17 million would have a market price tag exceeding €700 million.