Refurbishment work at the former Air Malta offices in Luqa that will serve as temporary campus of the Institute for Tourism Studies is not covered by development permits.
The job, which started at the beginning of this year, included internal and external construction, new apertures, electrical and mechanical installations and internal refitting, building industry sources said.
According to the Planning Authority, such work requires a development permit.
A PA spokesman confirmed that no application for such a permit had been submitted so far. No reply was forthcoming on whether the Planning Authority had issued an enforcement order to stop the unauthorised work.
Admitting that a permit was required for the works in progress, a spokesman for the Tourism Ministry, which is politically responsible for the ITS relocation, yesterday played down the issue.
“No major exterior permanent interventions are being made and the ongoing work is mainly due to refurbishment, change of services to get the buildings in line with current rules and regulations and the installation of fire-detection systems, ventilation, CCTV, fire doors, fire escapes and other requirements to get the building up to standard,” the spokesman said.
Noting that most of the work was being done in consultation with ITS academic and non-academic staff, he said that “now that the consultations are ready and plans finalised, a change of use application is being submitted with the Planning Authority.
Sources conversant with planning laws told the Times of Malta the Tourism Ministry, like any other entity, had no right to start works without first obtaining a planning permit.
“Even if this is just a change of use, which could be disputed, the government cannot just ignore the law and commence works without even submitting a permit,” the sources said.
Doing so would be a very bad example and the PA must take action, they insisted.
The ITS relocation from the heart of the tourism industry in St George’s Bay to Luqa was necessitated by the government’s controversial sale of the current campus to the db Group.
The 24,000-square-metres prime land was sold for only €15 million and the db Group is planning to build a massive hotel and a 37-storey residential tower aimed at high net worth individuals.
The deal, being scrutinised by the National Audit Office, has met the of objection of many, particularly Pembroke and Swieqi residents.
ITS sources said the government was in a rush to move the institute out of St George’s Bay so excavation work could start. A decision on an application for a development permit for the project is expected to be made in mid-August.
Initially, Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi had said the db Group would foot all expenses for the refurbishment job, however, it now transpires that taxpayers would in fact be forking out an estimated €1 million. Dr Mizzi said this was necessary due to a decision to also move the Martin Luther King campus, an integral part of the ITS set-up in Pembroke.
ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com