60% of Pembroke, Swieqi and St Julian’s residents against DB project

Only 30.7% of residents in the three localities of Pembroke, Swieqi and St Julian’s agree with the high-rise development proposed on the ITS site which is set to include a 38-storey tower, a 17-storey hotel, a casino and a giant shopping mall.

The survey, which is included in the Social Impact Assessment commissioned by the developers, shows that 59.9% do not agree with the proposed project while 9.4% were unsure.

This emerges from a survey of 400 residents in the localities of Pembroke, Swieqi and St Julian’s, which was carried out by statistician Vincent Marmara, anthropologist John Micallef and social welfare expert Joe Gerada. The survey was held in August 2017.

Pembroke residents are the most opposed to the project. In this locality more than three in four oppose this project (77%). On the other hand opposition in Swieqi falls to 53%.

The majority of residents in the neighbouring localities (71%) were aware of the project, while 24.2% were not and 4.8% were unsure. Awareness of the project was highest amongst Pembroke residents (91.3%), followed by Swieqi residents (70.2%) and St Julian’s residents (61.1%).

Respondents gave a plurality of reasons for opposing the project. 20% of the participants consider the project to be an eyesore for the environment, 19% of residents claim that the project will include “too many buildings” and 11% claim that the project would result in “too many buildings, foreigners and shops.”

Pembroke residents (32%) were the most likely to consider the project as an eyesore.

Pros and Cons

The residents were also asked to list the disadvantages and advantages of the project.

Traffic congestion was mentioned by 67% of residents either alone (23%) or together with other problems like parking, noise pollution and increased rubbish (44%).

The major benefits mentioned by residents included job opportunities (34%) and business benefits (28%). 16% believe that there would be no advantages at all.

38% of those living in Pembroke, 42% of those living in St Julian’s and 25% of residents in Swieqi believe that this project would increase job opportunities.

Residents were questioned about the value of their property or rental housing if this project would proceed.

The majority of the residents (66.2%) do not think that the value of their property or rental housing would increase due to this project, 22.1% were unsure and 11.8% of residents believed that the value of their property or rental house will increase.

But the majority of the residents (53.5%) believe that the project will create more employment opportunities for the locals. 28.4% disagreed while 18.2% were unsure.

When asked what they would expect from the Government or local council to do to protect the collective interests of residents, 26% expected the Government “to discard the project” completely while 17% insist on a greater provision of “car parks, cleanliness and better security.”

During the interview, people were informed that this project would be built on the current site of ITS and that it would include hotels, conference facilities, a large complex with shops, a large tower of superior quality, including real estate, a business centre and leisure facilities.

The survey was carried out through telephone interviews. A sample size of 400 individuals was collected amongst Pembroke, St Julian’s and Swieqi residents.