Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1517660
3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 20 MARCH 2024 NEWS KARL AZZOPARDI kazzopardi@mediatoday.com.mt New culture hub will be set on five floors over a 13,010sq.m footprint CONTINUED ON PAGE 1 The new proposal for an arts and culture hub is set to include carnival float and costume workshops cover- ing an area 6,246sq.m, 18 rock band studios, dance rehearsal studios, an indoor theatre with 380 seats, an outdoor theatre with 940 seats, a 5D cinema with 616 seats, a museum dedicated to the performance arts, an indoor cafeteria with out- door spaces and administra- tive offices. The new building lies within the Albertown In- dustrial Area opposite the abattoir and in close vicin- ity to the the Pixkerija fish market and the Marsa Open Centre. Set over five floors and ris- ing to a maximum 22m, the project will have a Gross Floor Area (GFA) of ap- proximately 77,200sq.m and a built footprint of ap- proximately 13,010sq.m. A carnival village was al- ready approved on the same site in 2016 but works never started. Carnival enthusi- asts have long been prom- ised a facility where they could build their floats. Compared to the 2016 proposal the total gross floor area of the project will increase from 26,970sq.m to 77,200 sq.m, while the built footprint will decrease from 19,215sq.m to 13,010sq.m. The increased massing of the project on a reduced footprint is possible because of an increase in building height from 12m to 16.6m on Triq il-Biċċerija and 21.7m on Triq Troubridge. The project will also in- clude 310 parking spaces. It is estimated that the project will generate an average of 973 daily vehicle trips. PV panels on the roof are ex- pected to cover the energy demand of the facilities be- ing proposed. Photomontage showing extent of projected cultural hub in Marsa NATIONALIST MEP candidate Peter Agius has filed a report with the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) over what he claims is EU funding fraud by Sofia site devel- oper Kurt Buhagiar. "We must fight corruption in new methods, using new tools at our disposal. Today I filed an OLAF report on the alleged fraud of €360,000 in EU funding for a supposed goat farm by Kurt Bu- hagiar used to construct a villa instead," he said on Facebook on Tuesday. Kurt Buhajar is the developer behind the site where Jean Paul Sofia tragically died in a building collapse in December 2022. Agius said the Jean Paul Sofia public inquiry clearly states the developer, Kurt Buhagiar, clearly benefitted, illicitly, from EU fund- ing. The PN MEP candidate said fur- ther investigation by him led him to unveil how Buhagiar has "effec- tively benefitted on three separate occasions" from EU funding, get- ting the maximum allowable limit on every application in 2017, 2019 and 2022, netting over €360,000 in the process. "EU funds from three separate calls in measure 4.1 and 4.4 under the European Agricultural funds managed by the Malta Managing Authority were used to allegedly construct a private residence and ancillary holdings under the guise of a goat farm as declared in three applications," he said. "The first application was for the construc- tion of a goat farm in Naxxar in 2017 netting €150,000, then for an upgrade netting €146,000 in 2019 and then for the construction of rubble walls around the property for which the beneficiary netted another €62,000." "While this developer with good contacts with INDIS, Planning Authority and elsewhere got the maximum funding in three sepa- rate occasions, there are hundreds of applicants who never manage to benefit from any EU funding over years of trying in vain." the MEP candidate said. Agius said he will not allow any- one to put Malta's EU funding in peril "through fraud". "This is why I reported this case to the European Anti-Fraud Of- fice for it to investigate the case and come to the bottom of it. The Sofia inquiry conclusions together with media reports should have been enough for Maltese author- ities to investigate. Given that we heard nothing coming from local authorities, I decided to put the case in the lap of the competent authority at the European level," he said. "Given that local paths are not leading us to justice, we must also consider new ways of fighting corruption in Malta through re- course to other venues." Peter Agius reports Sofia developer to OLAF over 'misuse' of EU funds Nationalist MEP candidate Peter Agius (above) filed a report with OLAF over what he claims is EU funding fraud by Sofia site developer Kurt Buhagiar (left)