Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1464183
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 APRIL 2022 NEWS MATTHEW VELLA MARSASKALA'S mayor Mario Calleja and newly-elected La- bour MP Ray Abela were aware of Transport Malta's plans for a yacht marina as far back as Au- gust 2020, a full year before the agency issued a tender for the controversial plans. Minutes from a 28 August 2020 meeting for the may- or's subcommittee, dubbed the Marsaskala Regenera- tion Committee, show that its members discussed the marina as a "matter of priority" and proposed meetings with the transport regulator to "address any issues" that may arise. But it was the PN's minority leader John Baptist Camilleri who, after protesting at the lack of councillors' representa- tion on the committee, discov- ered that the committee was al- ready discussing various plans, including those to pedestri- anise St Anne's Square and to divert traffic to the church and school. These plans were never dis- cussed with the local council it- self, and no mention of the ma- rina was made until December 2020, when Camilleri informed the council that the subcom- mittee was also discussing a yacht marina proposal for the Marsaskala bay. No further mention of the marina was made until August 2021, when Transport Malta issued the secretive PQQ (pre- liminary questionnaire) right before the Santa Marija festiv- ities, without informing resi- dents or local council of their plans, leading to protests from the community in which coun- cillors from both PL and PN were seen participating. During the Local Council meeting of the 20 December 2020, Calleja came under fire from other councillors for the lack of transparency in set- ting up the committee. Deputy Mayor Janice Falzon, in a ref- erence to Ray Abela, asked why the chairman of the Regenera- tion Committee was parading himself on social media, meet- ing government departments and entities without the Coun- cil's knowledge or approval. Other councillors stated their dismay at the fact that the sub- committee was meeting enti- ties like Transport Malta and Infrastructure Malta on vari- ous projects which the council knew nothing about, amongst which was the marina. In that meeting, Calleja had stated that the subcommittee had been holding meetings out of "enthusiasm". "Brainless proposal" Calleja, however, had dubbed the proposal as "brainless" in an interview which appeared on the Malta Independent on Sunday 20 February 2022, two days before PM Robert Abela announced the withdrawal of the project in an electoral rally in Marsaskala. The mayor said he only found out about Transport Malta's plans for the marina once news of the PQQ emerged in the me- dia, despite him knowing about an impending marina since at least August 2020. On his part, Ray Abela was the only candidate to speak in favour of a marina in the local- ity, only to declare that the ma- rina was a "closed case" after the PM's announcement. It remains unclear as to why Calleja and Abela hid the mari- na proposal from the public for almost a year. Contentious subcommittee The subcommittee was orig- inally set up Labour mayor Mario Calleja, to serve as a coordinating committee with roads agency Infrastructure Malta, Transport Malta and the Water Services Corporation to develop a plan to improve Mar- saskala. The committee was chaired by the Labour candidate Ray Abela, and included his cous- in Eric Abela – who has plans to open a boutique hotel in the town – Joseph Farrell, and An- gele Abela, who resigned short- ly after. After learning of the sub- committee's plans, Camilleri alleged that Eric Abela was behind a pedestrianisation proposal to divert traffic away from his property. He also Indeed, the committee's min- utes show both Ray and Eric Abela being in talks with Infra- structure Malta CEO Fredrick Azzopardi to finalise the plans. But after criticism from coun- cillors and residents, Mario Calleja dissolved the sub-com- mittee. Soon after, the Malta Tourism Authority announced a "design contest" which residents say was intended at giving the seal of approval to the subcommit- tee's plans. The MTA design contest called for architects, engineers and planners to take part in an 'urban design contest' to improve the locality to attract more tourists. Last year, Eric Abela had re- ported members of the Mar- saskala Residents Network to the police, accusing them of irregularly collecting funds and hanging a banner without a permit. However, the develop- er did not turn up in court to sustain his accusations, leading the Magistrate immediately dismiss the case. mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Marsaskala marina discussed by mayor's 'secret' committee in 2020 Top: PN councillor John Baptist Camilleri addresses demonstrators at a protest against the Marsaskala marina. INSET: Marsaskala mayor Mario Calleja (top) and newly-elected Labour MP Ray Abela Plans were never discussed with the local council itself, with no mention of the marina made until December 2020, when a PN councillor revealed that the mayor's subcommittee was discussing a yacht marina proposal for the Marsaskala bay The mayor said he only found out about Transport Malta's plans for the marina once news of the PQ Q emerged in the media, despite him knowing about an impending marina since at least August 2020