Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/852418
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 23 JULY 2017 7 News MCAST Applications Where to Apply? When to Apply? Further Information. Applications oces are open from 8.30hrs to 12.00hrs Malta The Student's House MCAST Main Campus Paola Dates Mon 24 July Tue 25 July Wed 26 July Thur 27 July Fri 28 July Mon 31 July Tue 01 Aug Wed 02 Aug Our career advisers will be available (without appointment) between 17th July – 4th August, from Monday to Friday, between 08:30 and 13:30, at the Students' House, MCAST Main Campus, Paola to answer Contact: fb.com/MCASTmt Email: career.guidance@mcast.edu.mt Call: 2398 7135 2398 7136 2398 7310 A B C D - E - F G - H - I - J - K - L M N - O - P - Q - R - S T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z Gozo MCAST Gozo Campus JF De Chambray Street Għajnsielem Applications with surname starting with Applicants who cannot present their application on the above dates may apply on Thursday 3rd August or Friday 4th August between 08.30hrs and 12.00hrs. Applicants who will be abroad on application dates have to submit their application before these dates at the Registrar's O¦ce, Students' House, MCAST Main Campus, Paola. The travel ticket must be shown as a proof that the Applicant will be abroad. Applicants who wish to apply for courses held in Malta, and who during the days of Receipt of Applications are residing in Gozo, may submit their application at the MCAST Gozo Campus, Għajnsielem. Applicants may ask another person to present their application as long as the application is signed by the applicant and all the necessary documents are attached to the application. The person presenting an application in the name of another person must also present his/her ID card. Applications without all the necessary documents will not be accepted. Application Form A is to be filled in by those applicants who were not students at MCAST in academic year 2016/17 and by those who wish to restart a course. Applicants who will be sitting for SEC re-sit examinations in September 2017 and at the time of application (24 July 2017 – 4 August 2017) do not satisfy the entry requirements of a course, can apply in subsequent calls that will be o«ered by MCAST during September 2017. Applicants applying under the Maturity Clause must also present an Employment History Record for any work experience claimed together with a motivation letter. All applicants must fill in the o¦cial Application Form A (in triplicate) and submit it together with the original ID Card (+ photocopies from both sides), original Certificates/result slips (and photocopies), School Leaving Certificate (or Secondary School Certificate and Profile (SSC&P)) (and photocopy). The Ricasoli land – a vast indus- trial wasteland the size of 40 foot- ball grounds – was offered to Te- com Investments for a ground rent of Lm65,000 (€150,000) a year, in- creasing by 5% every five years. Tecom was obliged to keep 33% of their investment develop- ment free, and invest a further €24 million in landscaping. An- other 119,000 square metres of floor-space (the size of 20 football grounds) were earmarked for real estate and commercial develop- ment. Tenants could redeem their lease on the land earmarked for apart- ments and villas at just Lm1.75 (€4) per square metre. Additionally, Tecom Invest- ments and the Dubai Investment Group had also furthered their interests in Malta, with the acqui- sition of 60% of Maltacom – now renamed GO plc. What made Smart City differ- ent to other projects, where public land was sold at a pittance to make way for speculation, is that the agreement signed between Tecom and the government set a €920,000 fine for each year in which the de- velopers fail to create the prom- ised jobs. Failing to complete the job in time had to be met by a daily €1,150 penalty until works are fi- nalised. After abandoning a similar ven- ture in India during the 2009 fi- nancial crisis, Tecom reiterated its commitment to invest €208 mil- lion in the Malta project, but prob- lems plagued the stalled project and the 5,600 job promise never materialised. Change in government Despite the Labour Party's res- ervations about the project when it was presented in 2008, the elec- tion of Joseph Muscat in 2013 saw an increased interest in changing the zoning of the project, with a €74 million 12-storey hotel being proposed on site so that the In- stitute for Tourism Studies could relocate its campus to Smart City, from St George's Bay, where the ITS land was granted in a conces- sion to the db Group. A new 200-bed state-of-the- art private hospital will be built at Smart City, while a number of government entities including the Gaming Authority and the Malta Tourism Authority were relocated there. heights and the site coverage allowed in various zones of the project, mainly those for resi- dential and commercial devel- opment (the floor area includes area of development set on dif- ferent floors – the footprint will not change) While the area for ICT and media offices – the original aim of the project – will increase by over 46,000 sq.m, or 29% over what was allowed in 2008, the area for commercial and resi- dential development will to- gether now increase by 139,624 sq.m. This would represent a 90% increase in the floor area dedi- cated to the two secondary com- ponents of the original project, which originally demanded that the office component be deliv- ered before any residential de- velopment. The residential component itself will increase by a stagger- ing 111,000 sq.m, 177% over and above what was allowed in 2008. The floor area for residential villas on Plot 19, abutting on St Peter's Battery and Fort St Rocco, will now increase from 18,000 sq.m to 51,000 sq.m, a site coverage rising from 30% to 50%. The villas on Plot 18, facing the coast in the direction of Fort Rinella, will increase from 19,000 sq.m to 33,750 sq.m, also an increase in site coverage from 30% to 50%. Another sharp increase in floor space is being proposed on Plot 3 and Plot 4, 8,340 sq.m ap- proved in 2008 to 52,000 sq.m, thanks to an increase of heights from the 10-20m approved in 2008, to 30-38m in the latest plans. HUSSAIN Sajwani, chairman of the global property develop- ment company Damac Prop- erties, was in Malta this week seeking investment opportuni- ties, MaltaToday has learnt. With a net worth close to $6 billion, his company is one of the largest property develop- ment companies in the Emir- ates and has just opened the Trump International Golf Club in Dubai. Among other projects, Damac properties also launched Aykon City in Dubai. On Friday, he had a private meeting with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat at Castille and discussed potential business in- vestments in Malta. His compa- ny is presently developing over 44,000 properties in Dubai. Sajwani told MaltaToday that the country's favourable tax en- vironment and business climate had attracted his interest. "We are in the business of building high-end service apartments. The world today is all about competition and com- peting. Everyone competes but there is always room for crea- tive and high-end ideas. We will come back for more meetings and studies." Rise to power and conviction Hussain Sajwani founded resi- dential real estate developer Damac Properties in 2002, tak- ing advantage of a government decree allowing foreigners to own property in the emirate. After purchasing land in a then-undeveloped part of town, he managed to sell units in his first 38-storey residen- tial building in less than six months, before construction. Sajwani has since helped bur- nish Dubai's image, develop- ing two Trump-branded golf courses in 2017 at Damac's Akoya residential develop- ment, and the Trump World Golf Course, designed by Ti- ger Woods, slated to open at a separate Damac development at the end of 2018. In 2011, Sajwani was con- victed by an Egyptian court in absentia and handed a five- year prison sentence in con- nection with a 2006 land deal in Gamsha Bay on the Red Sea. The case resulted in a five-year sentence for Zoheir Garranah, a former tourism minister, for squandering public funds by selling the land too cheaply. Damac described it at the time as a case of guilt by association. In May 2013, after seeking ar- bitration by the International Centre for Settlement of Invest- ment Disputes (ICSID), Egypt and Damac reached an agree- ment to settle the pending dis- putes. The deal meant Damac would withdraw a suit against Egypt filed with the Interna- tional Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Wash- ington. Under the settlement, owner- ship of the disputed land was restored to Egypt. Huge business: Sajwani (centre) with US President Donald Trump and daughter Ivanka, for whom he developed a Trump-branded golf course in his Akoya residential development in Dubai Dubai development mogul in Castille talks INTERVIEW Hussain Sajwani www.maltatoday.com.mt