Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1535025
4 4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 4 MAY 2025 NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Cabinet had agreed on a partial review of the North Harbour local plan, specif- ically the Villa Rosa site, in October last year after Abela pushed for the process to kick off. At the time, Villa Rosa developer An- ton Camilleri, who had proposed new plans for the site and was keen to have the local plan amended, had met Abela and Opposition Leader Bernard Grech separately. The existing local plan limits develop- ment on the Villa Rosa site to a maxi- mum of six to seven floors. However, the PA contends that the 2014 Hotel Heights Adjustment Policy, applicable in two zones within the site that can al- so accommodate standalone buildings, in principle have no capping on build- ing heights. It argues that the proposed changes would impose a height limit. However, the draft plan, which was published for public consultation on 29 April, is broadly in line with a develop- ment application presented by Anton Camilleri in 2023. Camilleri's pending proposal is for a 34-storey tower next to Bay Street and another 27-storey tower right in the middle of the 50,000sq.m site and a large public square between the two build- ings. The partial local plan review proposed by the PA has parcelled the Villa Rosa site in 12 zones with different building heights. The highest development is set to rise to 39 floors in the zone closest to the Bay Street complex, while a 22-storey devel- opment is being envisaged in two other zones—a site immediately adjacent to the gardens surrounding Villa Rosa, and another closer to the DB project. Patrick Calleja, president of heritage NGO Din l-Art Ħelwa, writing in Malt- aToday says it is of "great concern" that the local plan has been "dictated" by the developer's proposal. "The revised local plan objectives for the Villa Rosa site are, however, derived entirely from the monstrous project proposed and drawn up by the devel- oper and not, as it should be, the other way around—any development propos- als should be defined and constrained by the previously approved local plans," Calleja writes. He also calls for an investigation over what he describes as a "manipulated" consultation process on the objectives launched last October, which eventually led to the latest draft local plan propos- al. "In this farcical consultation, the PA responded to many of the first phase public submissions stating that they had allegedly received over 4,200 submis- sions in support of the original review objectives… Judging from the timing of the developer's public announcement of the number of approving submissions received by the PA, almost immediate- ly after the first phase of the consulta- tion was closed and before any official reports were published by the PA, it seems that the process was unethically manipulated and was therefore contam- inated," Calleja claims. When the draft plan was published MaltaToday had flagged a possible dis- crepancy between the number of objec- tions listed by the PA—43—and those submitted through Moviment Graffitti's online facility, which totalled over 3,000. Nonetheless, the PA stood by its fig- ures. "It is absolutely not in our in- terest to hide any figures and we have published all the objections we have received," a PA spokesperson had told MaltaToday, excluding any devious in- tentions on their part. Planning CEO breaks ranks over Villa Rosa high-rise plan PA CEO Johann Buttigieg CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 This is one of several cases General Workers' Union boss Josef Bugeja talks about in an interview with MaltaToday in which he sounds the alarm on cases of modern slavery that continue to exist despite improvements in worker protec- tion laws. The Indonesian man's case, which happened some years back, was eventu- ally resolved but Bugeja notes that many more third country nationals continue to fall victim of horrid working condi- tions and poor compensation. Bugeja cites the example of food cou- riers who get paid the minimum wage, which gets eaten up by a number of oth- er fees such as motorcycle and fuel costs. Shockingly, he adds, some couriers' pro- tective clothing is rented out by their employers, and that fee is also taken out from their wages. Bugeja explains that many of the non- EU workers have to borrow money to pay thousands in euros in fees to come and work in Malta. This, he notes, leads the worker to become desperate for work and money, which in turn makes them less likely to refuse abusive prac- tices. Another case that Bugeja raises is that of a man who was promised a wage of €1,000 per month and had to work 12-hour shifts from Monday to Sunday in complete breach of employment laws. Bugeja says his union has seen many cases of employees who were brought to Malta on the premise of a job but after a while were told the vacancy had been filled. The employer would then offer the employee an undocumented job, "off the books", to which the employee wouldn't hesitate to accept in order to pay off the massive debts racked up in order to come to Malta. Bugeja argues that despite improve- ments in workers' rights over the years, new challenges have arisen in an ev- er-evolving labour market that requires constant vigilance. It is these cases of abuse that under- pin the GWU's call for automatic union membership to become a legal require- ment, he says. "It will help curb abuse," Bugeja says, adding that abusive employers should be criminally charged and publicly shamed. Read the full interview in MT2 Abuse and exploitation of workers in Malta: A call for change GWU Secretary General Josef Bugeja