Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1071614
24 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 16 JANUARY 2019 JAMES DEBONO OVER the Christmas peri- od the American University of Malta has presented new plans outlining its plans to develop a campus at Zonqor point, including six dormitory blocks constructed outside development zones. A spokesperson for the AUM confirmed that the plans for Zonqor are still in place de- spite the low intake of stu- dents together with a pend- ing application to expand the Bormla campus over the area of the Knights building. "The American University of Malta continues to conduct all studies required from it to ob- tain all the necessary permits for its continued development". In February 2018 AUM Pres- ident Lewis N. Walker had declared that the AUM will only "start making plans for the Zonqor campus" when the Dock 1 campus "is nearly at full capacity, which is more than 2,000 students." In its reply and despite the pres- entation of new plans, the AUM insisted that its position remains unchanged over last year's. "The University's position re- mains unchanged as expressed last year and it will carry on with its plans based around its projected numbers". According to the AUM web- site the current number of students amounts to 70. But after a long lull in the ap- plication process which saw the AUM not presenting any plans related to the Zonqor campus between May 2017 and December 2018, new plans including a slightly revised masterplan outlining the vari- ous components of the project including the six dorm blocks (down from eight as originally proposed), were presented on 19 and 20 December. One of these dorm blocks will rise to nine floors. MaltaToday also asked the AUM to state how many rooms will be allocated in the dorm blocks and for how many individual students these will cater but no reply was forthcoming. The masterplan foresees the development of faculties, lec- ture halls and a large audito- rium around a central lagoon pool on the site of the pre- sent national pool, a number of sports facilities on ODZ land along Triq il-Blajjiet and six nearby dorm blocks. The dorm blocks include 15sq.m rooms, student halls and com- mon kitchen areas. So far the only part of the campus approved by the Plan- ning Authority has been the restoration of and an addition to the British building in Dock Number One in Cospicua. The PA is still assessing a master plan for the develop- ment of a university campus on the rest of the Bormla site. The application foresees the development of educational facilities in the Knights build- ing which will get additional floors; the construction of an administrative building between the British and the Knights building, a new edu- cational building along Triq 31 ta' Marzu as a new wing to the Knights building. A multi- level underground parking for 180 parking spaces with a stu- dent accommodation building above is also being proposed instead of an existing surface carpark in Triq San Pawl. AUM presses on with Zonqor plans over Christmas period The proposed development (top) and the area earmarked for the project at Zonqor (bottom) DAVID HUDSON ONE of the many complaints filed by per- sons with disabilities includes the refusal of being issued a life insurance policy, the Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disability (CRPD) said. This precluded disabled persons from taking out a home loan, since banks re- quire the customer to have a life insur- ance. "This bothers me no end, especially since I've been a victim of this situa- tion in the past," CRPD Commissioner, Oliver Scicluna said yesterday morning when presenting the annual report for 2016/2017. The report gives an overview and anal- ysis of the annual complaints filed by persons with disabilities. "Most reports have to do with inacces- sible properties both in the private sec- tor and the public sector. While most properties are being vetted by the com- mission, a lot of work still needs to be done in this regard," Scicluna said. This is the commission's first report carried out in line with the amendments to the Equal Opportunities Act in 2016. The report also highlights abuses re- lated to the blue badge disabled parking. In 2017, there were 186 reports made in relation to this issue, mainly the use of an outdated blue badge for parking privileges, the parking of vehicles on disabled spaces by people without a blue badge and even the use of fraudulent blue badges. "People call the commission to report on these blue badge issues even though it's not up to us to charge the perpetra- tors. Usually, we don't direct these peo- ple to the police but we file the reports on their behalf," Scicluna said. Scicluna also highlighted the rise of mental health issues in the workplace, still a developing area. "Mental issues can last for a long time or for a short time. It's not the same for everyone. We need to make sure that employers sup- port these sufferers," the commissioner said. The report also lists a number of com- plaints related to the education sector. Scicluna said that while children with a disability are educated in mainstream schools, this did not mean the system was working well. Many cases, he said, relate to children being sent back home because their Learning Support Educator is not pre- sent. During the years 2016 and 2017, the commission saw 203 new reports from all sectors. Most of these were related to accessibility and education and the majority (89) were filed against govern- ment. Persons with disability denied life insurance, home loan A man was arrested by Police yesterday on suspicion of mul- tiple robberies across Malta. The 47-year-old is suspect- ed of being behind robberies in multiple establishments and hotels in the areas of Gzira, Sliema and Hamrun, Police have said. This followed several weeks of observation by the Depart- ment of Criminal Investiga- tion and the Sliema District Police. The suspect was expected to be charged in court before Magistrate Gabriella Vella. Man arrested on suspicion of multiple robberies