Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/702141
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 10 JULY 2016 News 'Panama' minister given hero's welcome, announces €6 million Marsaxlokk project TIM DIACONO KONR AD Mizzi, now a 'minister without portfolio' in the Office of the Prime Min- ister, yesterday announced a €6 million project to regenerate Marsaxlokk. The project will include the construc- tion of new roads to deviate traffic from the centre of the village, and allow the coast of Marsaxlokk to be converted into a pedestrian zone. A car park will be built by the football pitch, the Vendome Tower will be re- stored, and a heritage trail will be set up for tourists. "The regeneration of Marsaxlokk is only one example of the government's inten- tions to create open spaces for the public to enjoy," Mizzi said. Mizzi announced the project during a 'Gvern li Jisma' (a Government that Lis- tens) consultation session, a rare appear- ance for the minister, which saw him be- ing given a standing ovation. Onlookers were shown a video on the project, bearing the watermark 'minister within the Office of the Prime Minister'. But the minister refused to engage with journalists after the session ended, to discuss his offshore dealings, saying he would only answer questions on the sub- jects he discussed at 'Gvern li Jisma'. Mizzi was stripped of his energy and health portfolios after it was revealed in the Panama Papers that he owned an off- shore Panamanian registered company. However, he was not asked about the Panama Papers scandal during the ses- sion, and he did not even refer to it in his opening address. Instead, he gave a run- through of ongoing projects in his former health and energy sectors – such as the LNG power station project and the partial privatisation of three hospitals. Mizzi and the Prime Minister's chief of staff, Keith Schembri, were revealed to have opened two offshore companies in Panama through Mossack Fonseca's agent in Malta, as well as two offshore trusts in New Zealand; as well as having sought to open bank accounts in Panama to deposit some €800,000 annually. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has since faced two protests, three confidence mo- tions in parliament, and only 'demoted' Mizzi to a minister without portfolio, un- der his purview, while retaining Schembri as chief of staff. Shortly before announcing the regenera- tion project, he said that "the final touch- es" are being completed to a LNG tanker that will be berthed in Marsaxlokk Bay as part of the power station project, and that it is expected to sail to Malta within the coming weeks. He also touched on a planned 'New Water' project that will annually convert around seven million litres of drainage eff luent into water to be used by agri- culture, industry and recharge aquifers. The water will be treated in three phases – ultra-filtration, reverse osmosis and ad- vanced oxidification. The room where the session was held was packed with people who turned up to lis- ten to Mizzi and planning parliamentary secretary Deborah Schembri, and chairs had to be lined up outside the room. Two-year planning amnesty The Planning Authority will in the sum- mer launch a two-year initiative that will allow people to regularise minor planning illegalities against a set fee. "The problem was far too widespread and people were left unable to sell their properties because of minor planning ille- galities, sometimes committed back when planning laws were looser than they are now," parliamentary secretary Deborah Schembri said. "People have two years to comply with the law, after which enforce- ment will be beefed up." Schembri also said that the law convert- ing the Lands Department into a Lands Authority should be enacted before Par- liament breaks for the summer recess. The initiative was announced by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in the wake of an audit report into the expropriation of half a Valletta palazzo by entrepreneur Mark Gaffarena. "People often hear murmurs that one must have contacts at the Lands Department to truly see what land is available. We don't want that; we want the same information to be at the fingertips of Cikku and Peppu (the man in the street) alike, and we want that information to be accessible online," she said. A rendition of the proposed Marsaxlokk Bay project presented yesterday by Konrad Mizzi