The government’s insistence on building a university on virgin land at Marsascala has brought together unlikely bedfellows like hunters and bird conservationists, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil has said.
He was addressing the media outside Parliament yesterday after emerging from a meeting with lobby groups opposed to the controversial project.
Dr Busuttil told the lobby groups the PN was ready to do its part to oppose the plans but urged civil society to take the lead. “If you lead we will follow,” he said.
Birdlife and the hunting federation, FKNK, yesterday joined Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, the Ramblers’ Association, Friends of the Earth and the Noise Abatement Society for a meeting with Opposition MPs.
The groups have voiced their opposition to the construction of a university campus on pristine land that had been earmarked for a natural park in the 2006 South Malta Local Plan.
Journalists were only invited for the introductory speech and presentation by environment shadow minister Marthese Portelli outlining the environmental and historic importance of the Żonqor coastline.
It has been described as an American university but it is neither American, nor a university
In a statement after the meeting, the FKNK appealed for all possibilities to be examined so that the building is erected in another area where “what little left of the Maltese islands natural and agricultural land will not be lost”.
Dr Busuttil said the Nationalist Party welcomed the investment in education but was against the chosen location in an outside development zone.
He insisted a different site within development zones should be found, adding it was the government’s duty to carry out alterative site assessments and not the Opposition’s.
He also questioned the planning authority’s impartiality when deciding on an eventual application after it transpired the Żonqor area was proposed by the authority.
Taking questions after the meeting ended, Dr Busuttil questioned the investment itself, saying it was characterised by a lack of transparency. “It has been described as an American university but it is neither American, nor a university,” adding the company behind the proposal had no credentials in the educational field.
The Sadeen Group based in Jordan, which is behind the university, is primarily a construction company but also has interests in the hospitality industry.
But the Opposition leader was less direct when asked whether the PN had credibility with Marsascala residents on this issue when it was Dr Busuttil who had blocked a petition by residents opposed to the recycling plant when he was still an MEP.
At the time Dr Busuttil sat on the European Parliament’s petitions committee and one of several objections to the recycling plant was that the alternative site assessment had been a sham.
Dr Busuttil was yesterday unfazed by the argument and insisted the PN was the only party against the university project at Żonqor.
“The PN is defending that zone from being raped by a project the Prime Minister wants. We are the only political party doing this and my appeal today is for civil society and people of good will to protect this land. Today we have a clear threat on this land that is an ODZ and it comes from Joseph Muscat. Let us unite and defend it.”
The meeting between the NGOs and the Opposition came on the eve of a political activity the Labour Party will hold in Marsascala this morning when Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is expected to address supporters.
kurt.sansone@timesofmalta.com