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MW 31 August 2016

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2 MIRIAM DALLI MARSASCALA'S local council has voted against a proposal to turn the former site of the Jerma Palace Hotel into an open space for the public to enjoy. The motion was presented to the council by Nationalist councillor Charlot Cassar and was seconded by the Labour deputy mayor, De- siree Attard. The motion was however de- feated after four Labour council- lors voted against and three PN councillors voted in favour. Attard was not present for the vote but de- clared her backing for the motion beforehand. The council, the motion pro- posed, should formally ask the gov- ernment to consider buying back the Jerma site. "The public has been denied free access of the coast for several years," Cassar's motion read, add- ing that the hotel itself obscured Fort St Thomas. Contacted by MaltaToday, Cassar expressed his surprise that the mo- tion had been rejected. "This was a motion purely in the interest of the public and the wellbeing of the res- idents… one would have expected the council to support it," he said. Marsascala mayor Mario Calleja is adamant that the salvation of local businesses depends on the development of a new hotel and increased commercial activity. "Shops and restaurants have been negatively affected ever since the Jerma hotel closed down … Mar- sascala has enough open spaces already and what we need are com- mercial opportunities," the mayor said. According to Calleja, the council had "no right" to tell the govern- ment what to do with the site, "es- pecially now that the government supports and has been pushing public-private partnerships". Calleja said he could not under- stand "all the fuss" surrounding a proposed redevelopment of the site in the south of Malta. "Marsascala is supposedly a tourist village but we are not getting any tourists. Why are hotels good for the north part but not for the south? Busi- nesses in the south need a hotel too." The mayor went on to add how the redevelopment of a hotel would lead to an embellishment of the promenade and a sandy beach. The land on which the Jerma Palace Hotel was built originally belonged to the Franciscan Con- ventuals and Ivan Burridge, and was sold to San Tumas Holdings, which in turn sold it to the Libyan investment vehicle Lafico in 1976. Corinthia used to manage the hotel through a management agreement. The hotel was never developed since closing down in the 2000s and then sold to JPM Brothers, owned by Peter and George Mon- tebello, in 2007. The Montebellos planned to redevelop the site into a complex of residential units, a five- star hotel and a yacht marina. The now empty shell will go un- der the hammer in October, after a court upheld a request by HSBC Bank Malta that it be sold to settle outstanding debts. According to court documents, the derelict site measures almost 38,000 square metres, includ- ing undeveloped land and fore- shore. The property is valued at €20,772,000. maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 31 AUGUST 2016 News SOON ON TVM For advertising on XTRA contact Claire Ciantar on: cciantar@mediatoday.com.mt Marsascala council rejects proposal to turn Jerma Hotel site into open space Marsascala council rejects proposal to turn Jerma Hotel site into open space Charlot Cassar

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