Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/483475
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 22 MARCH 2015 12 News THE St George's Bay Hotel has been sold for €15.3 million in a final settlement on the sale of the last re- maining property in the bay area, to Garnet Investments. CH Bailey, owners of the hotel that formally occupied an entrance to Villa Rosa, announced the finalisa- tion of the sale that started in 2009 to dispose all its properties in the area to Vic Bon Limited, now going by the name of Garnet Investments. The Cardiff-based investment company sold both Villa Rosa and Dolphin House in Paceville to Gar- net for €32 million and €2.6 million respectively. Dolphin House had been used as classrooms for English language students staying at Villa Rosa before being converted into a fully-fledged English-language school for the EC company. Garnet, owned by property entre- preneur Anton Camilleri, recently presented plans that include resi- dential and commercial develop- ments on the Villa Rosa grounds and adjacent areas. Moynihan House and Dolphin House, the two buildings proposed for demolition, do not enjoy any de- gree of protection. But a study by Ar- chaeology Services Limited included in the Environmental Impact State- ment for the Villa Rosa develop- ment, unambiguously concludes that both buildings deserve protection as Grade 2 Buildings. The developers have proposed the demolition of Moynihan and Dol- phin Houses and their replacement with a large development block. The demolition and redevelopment of the two buildings will yield 6,010 square metres of office space, 1,800 square metres for restaurants and 2,980 square metres for a language school. St George's Bay Hotel goes for €15.3 million The view from atop Villa Rosa, which forms part of the St George's Bay Hotel complex No protection for Grouper four years JAMES DEBONO THE Malta Environment and Plan- ning Authority (MEPA) is show- ing no urgency to implement a plan proposed in 2012 to save the dusky grouper, a gentle giant of the sea tar- geted by many artisanal and sport- fishing activities. An action plan outlining meas- ures costing €70,000 to protect the grouper was drawn up in 2011 and issued for public consultation in May 2012. Three years later "the document is still pending discussions", a MEPA spokesperson told MaltaToday. Moreover according to the same spokesperson "the issue is now be- ing addressed in a more holistic ap- proach, prioritising species requiring action plans". But according to marine biologist and university lecturer Alan Deidun, MEPA cannot afford to lose more time to implement the measures pro- posed in the plan. "The poaching within local waters of different sizes of dusky grouper goes on unabated, especially at night during the summer months, even through the joint use of Scuba diving and harpoons, despite this being for- bidden at EU level," he said. Deidun said that under-sized groupers were frequently offered at restaurants and said the delay in pro- tecting the fish was "symptomatic of the sluggish pace at which coastal and marine conservation proceeds in this country". He noted that by MEPA's own ad- mission, the dusky grouper is 'par- ticularly at risk locally'. The species is also listed in a raft of legislation annexes, such as Annex III of the SAP-BD Protocol of the Barcelona Convention, which make it incumbent on signatory countries including Malta to regulate the ex- ploitation of the dusky grouper and other species listed in them. The fish can live up to 50 years and can reach a weight of 35kg, living in rocky coastal areas of the Mediterra- nean Sea. But its unique vulnerability is a re- sult of the biological characteristics of the slow growing creature, which inverts sex when it reaches 12 years of age. In 2006, groupers were the fifth most caught species of local fish. By MEPA's own admission, the groupers is particularly at risk local- ly, unless the population is directly protected by some forms of regula- tions like closed seasons, moratori- ums, marine protected areas or other forms of fishing restrictions. The action plan is a three-year pro- gramme to set up four marine areas of special interest and study further these potential sites for grouper con- servation. One of the measures is a certifica- tion scheme for restaurants sourced by sustainable fishing practices, to encourage restaurants to buy unhar-