Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/697149
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 26 JUNE 2016 13 JAMES DEBONO THE entrepreneur proposing rede- veloping a derelict hotel at il-Kalan- ka in Delimara has also acquired 23,135 square metres of rural land in the vicinity of the proposed hotel. The land was acquired in July 2014 by Kenneth Abela, over a year before submitting his application to rebuild the derelict hotel. He insists that his sole interest in the land is agricultural. Part of the land already belonged to Abela's family since the early 1990s and was bought directly from Arken Limited, a company belong- ing to Kenneth Abela and his broth- er Aaron Abela, for €110,000. An- other portion, a one-twelfth share of a larger 90,000 square metre property, was bought for €90,000 from the Moroni Testaferrata Viani estate. Abela signed a promise-of-sale agreement for the Delimara hotel in June 2015, before acquiring it in August. Aims to introduce organic agriculture A registered farmer, Abela says he wants to shift the area to organic agriculture and that the acquisition was completely unrelated to the ho- tel, although he does not exclude of- fering his fresh produce to the hotel guests. "How can I develop it if it is out- side development zones (ODZ)? My only interest is in rebuilding the derelict hotel over the same foot- print and to protect the area from illegalities." After acquiring the land Abela im- mediately informed his tenants to provide evidence of their legal title to the land in question. He said he wants to remove ille- galities on the land, blaming "squat- ters" on his land for trapping and hunting illegalities. Over the past year the PA has issued a number of enforcement notices against illegal structures in the area which include garages, paved terraces and artificial ponds. Abela has also presented a plan- ning application on a 10,500 sq.m. field (which forms part of the land he had acquired in 2014) to re- move bird traps, reinstate the land for agricultural use, and convert an existing structure to an agricultural store and to pen the Maltese black- chicken. Electricity to new hotel Abela has a small room that serves as a base for an electricity pole that will serve the derelict hotel, and which has a letter box and the resi- dential number 17 affixed to it. He said this was a "temporary supply" of electricity subject to compliance certificates from the authorities. He has also installed a camera on the pole, which has attracted the attention of bathers frequenting the area: Abela says the camera is meant to deter his property from il- legal activities like drug use or bird trapping. He said the planting of prickly pears in the area were not meant to hinder access to the beach but en- hance the environment. Abela also insists that a proposed tunnel linking the hotel and the reclusive beach at St Peter's Pool is meant to increase accessibility to the beach, saying he if following recommendations from the Na- tional Council for People with Dis- abilities (KNPD). "I want Kalanka to become the first blue flag beach in the area, fully equipped with facilities like showers for the public. The tunnel, which will allow only one person to pass from it at a time, is necessary to provide these services, apart from making the beach more accessible to everyone." Since the hotel is located on the soft globigerina limestone, the ex- cavation of a tunnel to the beach raises issues of stability and changes to geomorphology, which will re- quire further investigation. A screening report from the Envi- ronment Resources Authority says the built-up area will increase from 343 square metres to 561 square metres, but Abela insists his new hotel "will reduce the foot- print by 100 metres". The ERA said the Kalan- ka hotel will have a signifi- cant visual impact and will change the character of the Delimara cove where it will be located "because the extent of the develop- ment will be larger than the structures already found on site in terms of height and area taken up by ancil- lary developments, includ- ing food and beverage and outdoor pool and decking area." Abela will have to prepare an environment planning statement for the proposal, which lies in a site sched- uled as an Area of High Landscape Value and as an Area of Ecological Impor- tance. Abela wants to redevelop the for- mer Delimara Bay Hotel into an "ecological boutique hotel" of 13 luxury suites, three 'superior de- luxe', and one 'presidential' suite. It will have a a lounge, bar and res- taurant, gym, spa and outdoor pool but also public beach facilities at il-Kalanka t-Tawwalija, including public toilets and showers, a first aid room, storage room and waste sepa- ration facilities. The hotel was built in the 1950s, but closed down in 1985, and has since been in a state of disuse and is currently in disrepair. Kenneth Abela is the sole share- holder of Delimara Bay Hotel Ltd, as well as a director of billboard com- pany Aiken Limited. Din l-Art Helwa calls for demolition of hotel In correspondence sent to the PA Environmental NGO Din l-Art Helwa has called for the reinstate- ment of the area to its natural state and the demolition of the ruins of the old hotel. In view of the ecological impor- tance of the site Din l-Art Helwa is insisting that "there is no justifica- tion for the redevelopment of the site and the proposed development of a larger hotel and associated amenities." News Delimara hotel owner also acquired 23,000 square metres of surrounding land Area (identified in yellow) bought by Kenneth Abela a year before presenting an application for rebuilding derelict hotel. Abela insists that he is interested only in using the land for agriculture. The hotel is circled.