The construction of a private hotel over a swimming complex on government land was cleared by the Malta Tourism Authority in the week the last election was held, the Times of Malta has learnt.

The four-star hotel was given clearance by the MTA on May 29, just over a month after the application had been received. The general election was held on June 3.

The tourism compliance certificate issued by the MTA’s accommodation development committee was necessary for GNI Ltd to amend the original planning permits to develop the swimming complex.

The original plans, approved by the then Malta Environment and Planning Authority in 2008, were for a four-storey indoor swimming facility on public land adjacent to the Gozo sports complex in Victoria.

On the strength of the MTA clearance, the same land can now be turned into a seven-storey, fully fledged hotel, with 74 beds in 37 units and still incorporate the swimming pool complex, industry sources have said.

The Times of Malta reported that originally, the concession involved about 5,000 square metres of public land to be developed by the private sector into a swimming pool facility similar to the one at Tal-Qroqq. It also quoted Gozitan hoteliers raising concerns about the concession – which was still the subject of discussions with the Gozo Ministry – because they feared it could be used by the developers to acquire public land on the cheap to develop a commercial enterprise.

The Gozo Ministry refuted the report, insisting that “nothing had changed on what was originally stated” and that the project would consist of an indoor swimming pool to be used for waterpolo and swimming events.

On the strength of the MTA clearance, the land can be turned into a seven-storey hotel

“Any other activity in this facility would not serve for speculation purposes but only as a service connected to the pool”, the ministry said.

However, the plans submitted by the developers and later approved by the Planning Authority now include a seven-storey hotel with a therapeutic pool and the swimming complex.

As for the height of the revised complex –more than 20 metres above road level, as opposed to the 10.8 metres originally permitted in the area – the PA resorted to a 2014 height limitation adjustment policy. This policy allows tourism-related projects to build two extra storeys above the permitted area height limitation, industry sources pointed out.

The PA case officer noted in his report that the extra hotel floors were necessary “to allocate a tourist use to further increase the usage of the indoor swimming pool”.

The Privatisation Unit and the Gozo Ministry issued a request for proposals (RFP) in 2015, inviting applicants interested in acquiring public land to design, build and manage an indoor swimming pool complex in Gozo on a commercial basis. In return, the Gozo Ministry was to get a number of hours of free use of the facilities every week. The request made no reference to a hotel forming part of the facility.

Only one bid was received, and a year ago, the government signed a memorandum of understanding with GNI Ltd granting it the concession.

It is not known why the concession agreement has not been concluded yet, although the MOU stipulated that it was to be done within six months.

Questions to the Gozo Ministry on whether the MOU has been extended remain unanswered, though it has said talks with the selected bidder are ongoing.

The transfer of public land must be approved by Parliament.

ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com