Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/507285
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 6 MAY 2015 News A group of environmental NGOs have called for the American Univer- sity of Malta to be sited across several historic forts in the Kalkara-Zonqor region, rather than on virgin land at Zonqor Point in Marsaskala. "The forts present a golden op- portunity for this project to benefit from many hectares of usable space within historic structures that can be restored, regenerated and put to good use," Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar, Friends of the Earth Malta, Ram- blers Association, Din l-Art Helwa, NatureTrust Malta, BirdLife, Malta Organic Agriculture Movement and Greenhouse said in a joint statement. "In handing heritage structures to a foreign entity, access must be ensured for the Maltese. Still, it is far better to restore and re-use them in this way, than allowing them to disintegrate for lack of a use, as is happening at the moment." This challenging project would re- quire great creativity, but the end re- sult would "garner respect from the Maltese public as well as the interna- tional community, while offering for- eign students the unique opportunity to live and study in a historic building. Housing university students within communities and regenerating di- lapidated sites will result in economic benefits for the community and serve as a catalyst for change in a part of the island which requires regeneration." They pointed out that large univer- sities, including DePaul University in Chicago are themselves composed of several campuses dispersed across an area far larger than Malta. "Propos- ing the adaptation of different historic buildings all within walking and cy- cling distance of each other is an ex- cellent solution that contributes to the restoration of Malta's heritage fabric, while spreading the benefits of the in- vestment and student tourism across different communities in the South of Malta," the NGOs said. They argued that 33% of Malta is already built up and that the island cannot afford to lose any more of its open spaces. "Seriously reducing Malta's scarce natural resource and depriving some farmers of their livelihood from agri- cultural land does create social injus- tice," they said. "As a university that prides itself on having 'more than 45 specialised centres and institutes fo- cused on addressing social justice is- sues' DePaul University must surely not want to be associated with such a serious national injustice." Construction lobby agrees with development of American university The Malta Developers Association agrees that, 'if possible,' a site that is not so pristine as Zonqor point should be found for the construction of a pri- vate univeresity On the other hand, the Malta Devel- opers Association (MDA) expressed its agreement with the construction of the private university, claiming that this project "is in the national interest and will raise the standard of living in the south of Malta by generating a positive domino effect." While underlining the project's po- tential in creating new jobs and in- creasing commercial activity, MDA said the construction of the 100,000 square metre university will also in- crease the value of buildings, while giving an impetus for abandoned buildings to be rehabilitated. "It appears that, in this case, the gov- ernment has managed to attract the investment without a purely specula- tive project being created," MDA said. But the association added that "if possible, a site that is not so pristine should be found, although this is not so easy." "On the other hand, if the project is executed on undeveloped land, at- tention should neverthless by paid in particular for the project to respect the skyline of the vicinity where the development is happening and the to- pography of the terrain, and for high buildings to be avoided," the associa- tion said. The government and Jordanian investor Hani Saleh signed an agree- ment for the setting up of the Ameri- can University of Malta yesterday. Green NGOs call for new university to be dispersed among forts The proposed area for development of the American University, at Zonqor Point in Marsaskala PHOTOGRAPHY BY VIRGINIA MONTEFORTE Bail for man accused of laundering drug money MATTHEW AGIUS A former travel agent charged in con- nection with a heroin trafficking case was released on bail yesterday, after he pleaded not guilty to money laun- dering charges. The 31-year-old Sliema resident, who cannot be named by order of the court, was presented under ar- rest before Magistrate Carol Per- alta and charged with having wired drug money from Germany to Malta through Western Union. The case is connected to that of Clive Butler, a well known offshore power boat driver, who had been ar- rested in Malta in 2013 after a 2011 drug bust in Germany, where Ger- man police had intercepted a car with three Lithuanian men, who were found to be carrying 2.2 kgs of high grade heroin. The Lithuanians had allegedly told German and Maltese investigators that Butler had overseen the impor- tation of considerable consignments of drugs to Malta. Butler had been granted bail in 2013 against a €50,000 personal guarantee. In court yesterday, lawyer Giannella de Marco, leading the man's legal team, told the court that her client would be pleading not guilty and re- quested bail. She pointed out that the accused had been granted police bail several times in the four years since the offence took place and had fully cooperated with the police. Prosecuting inspector Herman Mula said he opposed the granting of bail, due to the gravity of the case. Inspector Mula explained that the accused was arraigned now after the British authorities had sent several letters rogatory in connection with this case. The court, however, grant- ed the accused bail against a deposit of €2,000 and a personal guarantee of €8,000. Lawyers Gianluca Caruana Curran and Stephen Tonna Lowell also ap- peared for the accused. Environmental NGOs say that the American University of Malta should be sited across several forts around Kalkara and Zonqor, rather than on virgin land at Zonqor Point