Government land in Siġġiewi earmarked for social housing should be transferred to a state-owned special purpose vehicle, a parliamentary committee unanimously agreed on Monday morning.
The National Audit Office Accounts Committee agreed to recommend the adoption as amended of a contract transferring Joint-Office land to Malita Investments.
The land in question is within development boundaries and had been handed over to the government through the 1992 Church-State Agreement.
If the recommendation is adopted, the transfer, which will take place by means of temporary emphyteusis, will allow Malita Investments to access the financing required for the project to take place. The land and any structure built on it will revert to the government after the emphyteusis expires.
Social housing plans for the area would see 84 apartments, sheltered housing units for the elderly and various other facilities built on a 4,000 square metre tract of land in the town, in a residential area on the edge of the development zone, on Triq it-Tabib Nikol Zammit, Triq L-Imdina and Triq Dun Manwel Zammit.
On the request of Opposition MP Mario De Marco, the committee also resolved to recommend that the parliamentary plenary hold a debate on social housing.
Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne committed himself to placing the issue of this debate on the agenda of the House Business Committee for discussion.
The recommendations followed a brief discussion on a part of the contract determining the permissible uses of the land, which Opposition MP Beppe Fenech Adami argued allowed for too wide a range of interpretations. A proviso was added to ensure that the land could only be used for social housing and public and community services, and facilities ancillary thereto.
Dr Fenech Adami also recommended that the concerns of the local councils of Siġġiewi and other localities be taken into consideration.
Siġġiewi local council has repeatedly said that it is concerned about the social housing plans, saying the planned development is too dense for the town area and will lead to considerable traffic, parking and infrastructure problems.