Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/858250
12 News maltatoday, SUNDAY, 6 AUGUST 2017 MATTHEW VELLA MALTA is up against some se- rious competition to host the prestigious European Medicines Agency, Europe's regulator for medicinal safety, which will have to relocate away from London fol- lowing the UK's decision to leave the European Union. One of the greatest challenges for any of the 19 member states who bid to be the next host country of the EMA, is to provide suitable premises that can rival London's Canary Wharf offices for the agen- cy's 900 staff members. Malta has pledged to build a be- spoke 30,000 square metre state- of-the-art premises at Smart City if the island is chosen to host the EMA. In its bid, Malta has also offered tax reprieves, free rent for 15 years and a grant for furniture and data services, as well as the bespoke building, to give the EMA an en- vironment that responds to their present and future projections in line with the agency's require- ments. But Malta is also facing some considerable competition from other member states who are pitching very desirable locations for the agency building. France, whose health minister, Agnès Buzyn visited the EMA twice, once in June and again in July, to find out staff needs, has proposed – like Malta – a 30,000 square metre space in the yet-to- be-built 'Biotope' in Lille. The Danish firm Henning Larsen has been tasked with the design of the building, which will be designed "in symbiosis with modern work- space psychology and nature". The Biotope will include a 300-seat auditorium dedicated to conferences, multiple meeting rooms, work and relaxation areas, and a panoramic restaurant. Spain has proposed Barcelona to host the EMA at the Torre Glòries skyscraper, formerly known as Torre Agbar, which is frequently compared with London's "Gher- kin" building. The 38-storey sky- scraper marks the gateway to the new technological district of Bar- celona and has 30,000 square me- tres of office space. Spain's health minister, Dolors Montserrat has naturally dubbed Barcelona as "the best candidate" with the "the best city", "the best building", and "the best infrastructure". Not to forget "the best option" and "the best Milan's Pirelli Sweden is planning to construct a life sciences complex to house the EMA Cities bidding for EU's meds agency show off architectural 'finery' BREXIT BOOTY It's stiff competition between 19 member states Illegal expropriation of Playing Fields Association from land being contested by Royal Malta Yacht Club JAMES DEBONO THE Royal Malta Yacht Club (RMYC) is refusing to hand over the land it uses for a sailing school to the Malta Playing Fields Asso- ciation (MPFA), despite two court decisions which decreed the ex- propriation of the Ta' Xbiex land illegal. It has been two years since the Constitutional Court decreed that the government expropriation of the land from the PFA back in 2008, for the RYMC's school was in breach of the right to enjoy pri- vate property. The land was originally leased for 49 years to the MPFA in 2002, but six years later was expropriated for the RYMC's benefit when the sailing club had to move out from Manoel Island, when MIDI took ownership of the land. The court decision actually con- cerns just the part of the RYMC premises that is used for the sail- ing school, and not the rest of the premises used by the club. The school is run by the Sail Coach Foundation. But Commodore Godwin Zam- mit insists that the Constitutional court's decision has not revoked the RYMC's title on the land. Acknowledging that the Con- stitutional Court annulled the ex- propriation, Zammit insists that the RMYC was not asked to vacate the premises by the Court or the government, which is the direct owner. "This matter is still subject to pending court proceedings," he said. The RYMC took possession of the land under title of emphy- teusis from the government and Sport Malta (formerly KMS), and the title was never revoked. "The RYMC has developed the area in good faith, at great cost and after obtaining the necessary planning permission," Zammit said. "It was previously abandoned and completely derelict and is now continuously used by the sail- ing school which trains countless youngsters as well as older stu- dents in the sport of sailing who also enjoy the other facilities of the club and also supports the vari- ous local and international regat- tas held by the Club, notably the Rolex Middle Sea Race. The loss of this area would clearly have a very negative impact on sporting activ- ity at the club," Zammit added. Unfazed, the MPFA's chairman Charles Cilia is demanding that RYMC vacate the property and hand it over to his association. Cilia said that the MPFA's origi- nal plans for its own sailing school, approved by the Planning Author- ity back in 2006, "were illegally halted when the place was illegally given to RMYC in 2007". He also chastised the RYMC for its "blatant disregard" of the court decisions, saying he expected it would make good for the damages suffered by the MPFA by the club's "illegal and arrogant behaviour". "We also expect that the Lands Department, which was also im- plicated in the Constitutional Court case and subsequent appeal, makes good for the years of use which were denied to the Malta Playing Fields Association as a re- sult of the abuse," Cilia added. Expropriation deemed illegal The RMYC was relocated from Fort Manoel, where it had had its headquarters for the previous 40 years, after its land was granted to the MIDI consortium. The part of the new RYMC club, located at the Ta' Xbiex lido, that hosts the sailing school had al- ready been leased by the govern- ment to the MPFA for exclusive use for sports facilities. The land actually had been run by the MPFA since the 1950s but in 2002 the Maltese parliament approved a deed envisioning the development of unspecified sports facilities run by the association. But the expropriation order in 2008 was given by the National Sports Council (KMS), claiming the MPFA was not honouring its contractual obligations, adding that a sailing school was not in- cluded in the land transfer con- tract and that the land had not been used for years. After expropriation, this part of the land – together with a res- Yacht Club fighting Ta' Xbiex eviction