Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/442526
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 7 JANUARY 2015 5 News Josie Muscat's new hospital set for approval JAMES DEBONO THE Malta Environment and Plan- ning Authority's Planning Directo- rate, which gives technical advice to the authority's board, is recommend- ing the approval of the relocation of the St James Hospital from Zabbar to a site which lies outside develop- ment zones in the Tal-Hotba area in Bulebel, Zejtun. A final decision on the project, originally controversial because of the discovery of Punic tombs in 2009 – an issue since resolved – is expected on 15 January. A prelimi- nary permit was issued in 2002. The site of the new ODZ hospi- tal is located 120 metres south of the Bulebel industrial estate and is bordered to the west by a two-lane country road, which is accessed from Triq tal-Barrani and to the north by Triq Hal-Tarxien. According to the Planning Directo- rate, the proposed development will contribute positively to the coun- try's healthcare requirements for the Maltese Islands. The report states that the proposal is sensitive to the rural characteristics of the area. The site has already been commit- ted for use as a hospital in an outline permit issued in 2002 following a site selection exercise carried out by the developers and MEPA. A permit to demolish an existing building was approved in 2008. But the project was delayed following the discov- ery of archeological remains, which included a large cluster of Punic tombs. When the hospital was approved at outline stage in 2002 the plans con- sisted of a one-storey building. But following the relocation of the proposed hospital building to the lower part of the site, the building was changed to one consisting of two floors. Three quarters of the site presently consists entirely of agricultural land. The rest of the site is presently occu- pied by a low-lying building formerly used as a milk factory and more recently as a sausage-making factory. The build- ing, with an area of 640m², dates back to the 1940s and is in a derelict state. The proposed hos- pital has a floor space of 13,631m², accom- modating 130 rooms and various support facilities. The new hospital will replace the St James Hospital in Zabbar, which ac- cording to the case officer report has become too small to deal with the in- crease in healthcare demand. Following the sur- veys carried out on site, the applicant opted to re-locate the proposed development lower down the site in order to eliminate any impacts on the archaeological area. The new plans were subsequently approved by the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage. In a sign that the new hospital may be extended in the future, the case officer report states there is no room for further expansion of the Zabbar hospital. It also refers to plans for the con- version of the present Zabbar hospi- tal into a retirement home. The new hospital will include a basement, a lower ground floor, a ground floor and two overlying floors. It will also cater for 140 car park spaces. The case officer report includes interesting details on traffic plans for this part of Malta. Back in 2007 the Transport Au- thority called on MEPA to put the project on hold until a decision was taken on the proposed new road network to the Smart City Project. In 2013 Transport Malta informed the applicant of its plans for a junc- tion between Tarxien Road and St Leonard Street. Josie Muscat, a pioneer in private hospitals, plans to replace the St James Hospital in Zabbar, which has become too small to deal with the increase in healthcare demand Libya's Tobruk government stops visas to Maltese nationals Libyan Prime Minister Abdullah al Thinni and Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat (Photo: Ray Attard) MATTHEW VELLA THE Libyan parliament based in Tobruk and supporting Prime Minister Abdullah al Thinni has announced it will not issue any visas to Maltese citizens, unless they are security-cleared. The House of Representatives exiled in Tobruk – which is rec- ognised by the Maltese and oth- er governments as Libya's legiti- mate representative – imposed restrictions on Libyan visas to Maltese citizens. The Libyan ministry of the interior, based in the eastern city of Beida, instructed chargé d'affaires Habib Lamin not to issue any Libyan visas to Mal- tese citizens prior to receiving a security clearance from the ministry. The ministry told Al-Beida Libyan News Agency that this was a "preventive" action due to confirmed security reports that some Maltese arriving in Libya's western cities were offering "lo- gistic" help to Libya Dawn mili- tias – the small armies that sup- port the Tripoli government, mainly made up of Islamist- backed groups that helped drive out the Al Thinni government from Tripoli to Tobruk. "These activities were harm- ing Libyan national security," it said. This latest step in the com- plication of Maltese-Libyan relations comes on the back of a tug-of-war between the two separate missions, the Libya Dawn embassy based in Balzan, and the Tobruk-backed embassy that is now located in Ta' Xbiex, both purporting to represent Libya. Tobruk also banned the en- try of Palestinians, Syrians and Sudanese onto its land on secu- rity grounds that they belong to some armed groups in the country. Interior minister Omar Al- Sanki said the decision was based on a detailed and thor- ough screening of persons from these three nationalities. On Sunday, the Tripoli embas- sy said that visas issued by the Libyan embassy in Ta' Xbiex, which represents the govern- ment in Tobruk, will not be rec- ognised by the Tripoli govern- ment, rendering them invalid for entry to Libya, chargé d'affaires Hussin Musrati said. Musrati, who is a representa- tive of the Tripoli government – formed around the Libya Dawn militias – said his government will be issuing its own visas in the coming days. He also ex- pressed surprise that Malta was insisting on recognising the "il- legitimate" Tobruk government and said that no contact was made by the Maltese govern- ment with him or the Tripoli government, especially since the Libyan supreme court had declared the Tobruk govern- ment illegitimate. The Tobruk government is the Libyan government recognised by the European Union. Asked about claims that Tripoli was sheltering IS mili- tants, Mr Musrati said that this was just an excuse by countries such as Saudi Arabia, which was against the Arab Spring, to at- tack Libya. IS fighters, he said, were not bearded as seen in the pictures published in the western me- dia. The news conference was at- tended by a number of injured Libyans who had been brought over for treatment in Malta in recent months. Some said that they would be returning to Libya to fight "the remnants of the Gaddafi re- gime", with reference to Tobruk fighters. Photomontage of the proposed hospital presented in 2013