Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1063613
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 19 DECEMBER 2018 3 NEWS 22 December. Hotels owned by the Corin- thia Group and IHI were granted over 70,000sq.m of government land along the St George's Bay coastline in 1992 for long-term titles of tempo- rary emphyteusis. Now MPs will be voting on whether to allow IHI to de- velop their luxury hotel chain by redeveloping the area by waiving conditions currently restricting the development of the area solely for touristic purposes, and allowing it to create "the necessary mixed- use environment commensu- rate to the development and operation of a luxury destina- tion". The six-star hotel project will be the second major pro- ject on the St George's coast to be given the green light by MPs after the DB Group's City Centre project was granted land at the former Institute for Tourism Studies. Mizzi insisted that Corinthia was willing to invest in the country, but said that for it to make the necessary "quantum leap" on the peninsula it need- ed a change in emphyteusis that will allow for a residential development that is comple- mentary to the hotel. "Government is amenable to giving this waiver subject to fair compensation paid by IHI, as well as certain safeguards," he said, adding that it consid- ered the project a qualitative step up for the tourism in- dustry, and one that would be raising the bar in the hospital- ity sector. The development will incor- porate over 60,000sq.m of land which includes the Corinthia San Gorg and the Marina ho- tels, as well as the Radisson SAS Blue Resort which IHI had acquired in the acquisition of the Island Hotels Group. IHI owns and runs hotels and real estate in several countries, including London, St Peters- burg, Budapest, Prague, Lis- bon, Tripoli, Brussels, Dubai, Doha, Bucharest, Khartoum, Tunis and Malta. The final project will result in two hotels, one of which shall be a luxury resort and the other a five-star hotel, having at least 375 bedrooms in to- tal between them; office and residential units for lease and sale; a number of leisure, en- tertainment and retail outlets; management of the beach; and underground parking. The land will have an annual and temporary ground rent of €195,120 for a term of 99 years. The land will be given on the payment of a one-time premi- um of €17 million, to be paid in instalments of €4 million with- in three years from the date of the deed; and the balance pay- able on a pro-rata basis accord- ing to "each portion of net in- ternal saleable area designated for office and residential use on the effective date". IHI will not be entitled to convert the grant of temporary emphyteusis into a perpetual emphyteusis. However, if resi- dential and office properties are sold to third parties, the buyers will be entitled to con- vert the temporary emphyteu- sis to a title of perpetual em- phyteusis against the payment €250 per "net internal saleable square metre" of the acquired unit and at the rate of €37.50 in respect of garages and ga- rage spaces, external terraces and other external spaces. Third parties that do not opt to convert the temporary em- phyteusis will give IHI the ob- ligation to convert such titles to one perpetual emphyteusis. IHI will also be entitled to af- fect such land reclamation ad- jacent to or bordering the de- velopment site, on which it will then be obliged to pay ground rent. The government will bind itself "to use its good offices and use reasonable endeav- ours to ensure the expeditious processing of the applications for permits, licences or other authorisations" necessary for the development of the pro- ject. Works on the first phase of the project are expected to be completed by not later than five years on an investment of €100 million, while completion is expected not later than five years from the approval of the last development permit by the Planning Authority, following an investment of €300 million in the project. The company will be paying the Pembroke and St Julian's local councils the annual sum of €50,000 each for a period of 10 years from date of deed. EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FOR PROVISION OF AUDIT SERVICES The Malta Development Bank (MDB) is a new promotional institution set up by the Government of Malta in December 2017 in terms of the Malta Development Bank Act, 2017 (CAP. 574). The aim of the MDB is to complement commercial banks so as to bridge nancial gaps in bankable investments, thereby supporting socio-economic development in Malta, with special focus on SMEs, infrastructure, innovation, digitalisation, education, and other socially-oriented projects. Applications must be submitted in a sealed envelope and addressed to: The Chief Executive Ocer, Malta Development Bank, Pope Pius V Street, Valletta VLT 1041 by not later than 12:00 of Monday 14 January 2019. Further details on this invitation may be obtained from the MDB's website at: https://mdb.org.mt BRIDGING THE INVESTMENT GAP SUPPORTING SMEs, INNOVATION, INFRASTRUCTURE & SOCIAL INVESTMENT EXTERNAL AUDIT SERVICES The MDB invites applications from audit rms with experience in external audit of banking institutions to participate in a call for proposals to be appointed as the Bank's independent external auditors in terms of the MDB Act. INTERNAL AUDIT SERVICES The MDB invites applications from audit rms with experience in audit of banking institutions to participate in a call for proposals to carry out the Bank's internal audit function. mdb.org.mt MDB Recruitment Advert 14.5 x 23cm (EN and MT).indd 1 17/12/2018 10:50 35.41% of all viewers tuning in, followed by a foreign station and ONE. As many as 274,000 view- ers (aged 12 years and over), or 60.7% of the population fol- lowed television regularly dur- ing October 2018. Compared to previous data, there was an increase of 4.9% of viewers over the previous assessment period of July 2018. Despite X Factor boosting tel- evision ratings, there was a min- imal decrease of 1% viewership when compared to the same pe- riod last year. Local and foreign news domi- nate viewership with 26.3% respondents saying that news is their most favourite genre of programme. Drama pro- grammes ranked second, fol- lowed by discussion and current affairs. The least popular pro- grammes were children's shows and teleshopping with only around 2% tuning in to each. There was also significant differences between the two genders tuning in to television. Sports programmes were more popular with males (25% more popular), as were news seg- ments. More females watched drama, religious programmes, light en- tertainment and teleshopping. The most common service for watching television is that of a paid subscription. 90.1% make use of local subscriptions to watch TV while 16.8% only tune in to IPTV streaming, including Netflix. Only 2.4% of the popu- lation surveyed said that they only have a free-to-air service. The average number of hours spent watching television amounted to 1.84hrs per viewer per day for the month of Octo- ber. Peppi Azzopardi restriction on mixed-used development Corinthia €51.4 million in compensation