Updated | University to be used for secret 'national security matters' during CHOGM

The University of Malta will be closed between November 27 and 29 following a request by the Commonwealth Health of Government Meeting organising committee to reduce its activities on these days for "national security reasons".

CHOGM taskforce head of operations Christopher Formosa told MaltaToday that parts of the university will be used “for matters of national security that cannot be divulged”.

Staff and students were informed in a memorandum from rector Juanito Camilleri that all lectures scheduled for Friday, November 27 were being postponed and all staff would be on special leave with pay.
Any lectures or other activities scheduled for 28 November were also postponed.

The staff and students were also informed that no parking would be allowed in car park 6 at the Msida campus.

Nationalist Party deputy leader Mario de Marco claimed in a tweet that the university closure was down to increased traffic congestion during the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.

Problem: traffic congestion. Solution: close the University and all the schools. https://t.co/munxpEuPke

— Mario de Marco (@TeamMDM) October 20, 2015

On his part, Alternattiva Demokratika chairperson Arnold Cassola, a lecturer himself, dubbed the university closure an act of "madness", sarcastically querying whether the university should also be closed for six months in 2017 when Malta hosts the EU Presidency during that year.

All schools across the island will close on Friday, 27 November, the day Queen Elizabeth II is scheduled to arrive in Malta for the CHOGM opening.