Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/530451
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 21 JUNE 2015 News 9 CAR LOAN With a Car Loan from Banif Bank, getting behind the wheel has never been easier. And I can sit back and enjoy the ride while Banif secures my current lifestyle. Personal Loans Plus Protection include an insurance cover taken out by the Bank in its name to protect myself and my loved ones in case of unforeseen circumstances. BELIEVE: IT'S ALL ABOUT THE JOURNEY PERSONAL LOANS PLUS PROTECTION rates from 5 % p.a. * * The loan is subject to the Bank's lending criteria. 'Personal Loans Plus Protection' incorporate an insurance cover that protects clients in case of accidental death, temporary or permanent total disablement or redundancy. Banif Bank (Malta) plc shall be the policy holder. Details relating to the policy are available on the Bank's website (banif.com.mt). A typical example is based on a loan of ¤10,000 repayable through monthly instalments of ¤126.93 over a period of 8 years at a variable interest rate of 5% p.a. Loan is subject to an administration fee of 4% on the monthly instalment. The total sum payable throughout the term of the loan is ¤12,672.96, with an APR of 6.57% p.a. Banif Bank (Malta) plc is a credit institution licensed to undertake the business of banking by the MFSA in terms of the Banking Act 1994. New 40-storey hotel to 'complement' other high rises Developers claim that new hotel will mostly cast a shadow on their own property JAMES DEBONO A new forty-storey hotel in Slie- ma will be casting its shadow on the neighbouring Fort Cam- bridge apartment block, develop- ers GAP Holdings claimed when asked on the shadowing effect on neighbouring residences. "Most of the time, especially during the afternoon, the shad- owing will be on our own prop- erty," GAP Holdings director Paul Attard told MaltaToday. According to Attard the ef- fect of the hotel tower on the landscape has to be seen in the context that the Tigné penin- sula has been earmarked as a high-rise area in the recently ap- proved policy regulating build- ing heights. "Therefore, more high rise buildings are expected to complement one another," Attard said. But it is this fear of a concen- tration of high-rise develop- ments in an area with a popula- tion density of 4,135 per square kilometre which is creating most concern among residents. A 38-storey tower is already being proposed next to Villa Drago, and other developments may follow. "We are already experiencing a gridlock of traffic," Sliema coun- cillor for Alternattiva Demokra- tika, Michael Briguglio told Mal- taToday. Briguglio has called on MEPA to assess the cumulative social and environmental impacts of all proposed developments before taking a decision on any single proposal. He said that while the Fort Cambridge development was ap- proved by a development brief, which limited the height of the project to 16 storeys, no refer- ence to the development of a 40-storey hotel was made in this brief. He also told MaltaToday that MEPA has informed him that the Environmental Protection Directorate is still assessing whether an Environment Impact Assessment is required. On his part, Paul Attard con- firmed that the Malta Tourism Authority has given GAP Hold- ings the green light to apply with MEPA to build a 40-storey hotel. But the MTA will require further information, details and MEPA permits prior to the final approval. The application submitted to MEPA is for the erection of a 5-star hotel having 368 rooms. "At present we are dealing with various renowned management chains," Attard said, describing the hotel as "the first of its kind in Malta, being a city hotel, more business orientated and not the resort type." He also claims the hotel will create 300 new jobs. "The shape of the building was developed following various designs and studies with the scope of creat- ing pleasant massing to the high rise as an iconic building." Swiss grad school seeks university status in Malta JAMES DEBONO SATIATION is not in Marco Gaf- farena's dictionary: a shareholder in the now sanctioned illegally built petrol station in Qormi, and a noted beneficiary of government largesse in expropriation, apart from other business interests, he has also ap- plied to construct a small 20 square metre kiosk in a strategic commer- cial location in Spinola, St Julian's. Constructing the proposed kiosk would involve the excavation of a basement under the footprint of the structure. The kiosk from which the owner plans to sell snacks and drinks is being proposed on the public pave- ment near the former playground opposite the Hilton hotel. The application, which is still be- ing processed, was presented in September 2014. In the application Gaffarena states that the owner – the Lands Department – has been notified of this application. Technically any individual can apply for development on public land if he or she informs the lands department of his or her intention to do so. The lands department can only decide on whether to allow the de- velopment after MEPA issues the permit. The Government Property Divi- sion's website says that if you are interested in placing a mobile ki- osk on a government public space "you should first seek MEPA's ap- proval for the mobile kiosk. If this is granted then GPD will evaluate your request and may grant you a permit". Initially Gaffarena had also ap- plied to develop a kiosk in Spinola bay itself but this application was later withdrawn. An application for a seven square metre 'tourist information' kiosk was approved in the same area in January. The Malta Tourism Au- thority had objected to this appli- cation, claiming that such a kiosk would create more pedestrian and traffic congestion in the area, but the proposal was approved after Transport Malta approved the pro- posal. The EGS was established as a Graduate School in 1994, and char- tered as graduate and post-graduate degree-granting University, with a campus in Saas Fee, Wallis. The EGS is accredited by permission of the Council (Staatsrat) of the State and Canton Wallis, Switzerland, to award recognized Master (M.A.) and Ph.D. (Dr.phil.) degrees and is formally recognised as a univer- sity in Wallis by Staatsratsbeschluss (State Council decision, from June 20, 2002). EGS is funded by the not- for profit EGS-Foundation. Co- founders are the State and Canton of Wallis, the town of Saas Fee and The European Foundation of Inter- disciplinary Studies (EGIS).