Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/560195
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 23 AUGUST 2015 4 News In Marsaskala, Muscat calls for re-development of Jerma site MIRIAM DALLI PRIME Minister Joseph Muscat yesterday visited Marsaskala for an on-site briefing by architects working on the development of the American University of Malta campus at Zonqor Point. The Zonqor project will be led by architect Ray Demicoli. Originally set to take over 90,000 square metres of land lying outside development zones (ODZ), new plans will see the campus split in two. The campus in Zonqor will be spread over 31,000 square metres, 18,000 of which will be on land in an outside development zone. Muscat yesterday referred to the controversial project's economic impact assessment, which fore- casts a €47.9 million contribution over the first 10-year period of ac- tivity, peaking at €84.9 million in the tenth year of activity. But Muscat also took the occa- sion to call on the owners of the former Jerma Palace Hotel site, now lying dilapidated, "to get their act together". In May, MaltaToday reported that the owners, Peter and Geof- frey Montebello, were seeking to redevelop the former hotel site through the development of resi- dential units, a five-star hotel and a yacht marina. The plans were still at their preliminary stages, al- though hampered by a precaution- ary warrant in court to stop the sale of the Jerma Palace Hotel and the surrounding land. "I urge the Jerma investors to get their act together: the govern- ment is doing its part to regener- ate the area and it's now time for the private investors to rehabilitate the site. The situation is no long- er acceptable and I expect them to come up with a sustainable project," Muscat said. He also took the opportunity to reassure the Malta Developers As- sociation that the AUM project will be solely for the purpose of a university and not a residential or commercial project. Describing the fresh plans as a "just solution which led to a bet- ter result and a double win for the south", Muscat reiterated that the Zonqor campus could have been built within a development zone, causing "irreparable ecological and environmental damage to the foreshore". "Going for 18,000 square metres of abandoned agricultural land in ODZ was the better option. The land is publicly owned and less than four agricultural leasing agreements will be affected," he said. Muscat said that the previous ad- ministration had earmarked 25 tu- moli of the same area for the same construction of a marine hatchery. University's 'politicization' made Marsaskala interviewees uneasy MIRIAM DALLI A social impact assessment of the AUM campus at Marsaskala drafted by Marvin Formosa and Joe Gerada concluded that the people interviewed were gener- ally in favour of the development, but sought assurances that Mar- saskala's "family-friendly charac- ter" would not be marred. Formosa and Gerada wrote that one key issue was the need to keep a balance between the in- terests of residents and business operators: "The general feeling is that the authorities might appear impotent when faced with the business community's financial might and, if left unchecked, can roll over the interests of the com- munity and reduce their well be- ing instead of improving it." Stakeholders and residents welcomed the government's readiness to implement possible mitigation strategies – such as traffic management and a dura- ble drainage system. Carrying out the impact assess- ment turned out to be more diffi- cult than initially envisaged, with Formosa and Gerada arguing that the project had been deeply po- liticized, resulting in interviewees feeling "uneasy" and requesting "unreserved anonymity". Many spoke of the "much- needed financial capital injec- tion in business operations in Marsaskala, improving the rental market, and even raise the worth of edifices in Marsaskala and ad- joining localities" – a sentiment mostly shared by businesses in the catering and entertainment industries, which said customers were in short supply outside the summer months and who wished for customers with higher spend- ing power. "Many advocated the govern- ment to insist that the new uni- versity invests both energy and money in meeting its corporate social responsibility, such as bur- saries to students in Marsaskala and adjoining localities," Gerada and Formosa said. "In short for many inform- ants, the American University of Malta may be the catalyst that will bring the renaissance that is much needed in the South." On the other hand, fieldwork uncovered key concerns on be- half of residents about possi- ble negative implications if the American University of Malta opens a campus in Marsaskala: a probable increase in traffic; pos- sible decrease in parking facili- ties; the chance that the increase in the number of students would transform Marsaskala into a 'Paceville of the South'; and a plausible rise in house renting prices that would negatively af- fect prospective tenants in low- income brackets. It also identified risks that the present drainage system will not keep up with the projected in- crease of students in the local- ity; a concern that any new roads constructed for the project shall require the expropriation of ag- ricultural land which many ex- pressed a wish to keep to a bare minimum; and also an unease that the current road infrastruc- ture was inadequate to support heavy vehicles during construc- tion, which will also cause incon- venience to the residents. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat with architect Ray Demicoli discusses the concept for the American University of Malta at Zonqor Point