Marsa race course chairman 'withdraws' resignation, denies fall-out with Clyde Puli

A senior government spokesman confirmed with MaltaToday that Matthew Brincat had "withdrawn" his resignation. The news was confirmed in a note Brincat posted on the Marsa Race Course website, stating that he was withdrawing his resignation after being "encouraged to do so by many, and receiving support from horse racing enthusiasts and parliamentary secretary Clyde Puli."

In his note, Matthew Brincat denied that the resignation was tied to reports that government meet “various potential investors” prior to issuing a call for expression of interest for the development of the Marsa Sports Village.

An admission of such meetings that were held, came from the office of parliamentary secretary Clyde Puli, in replies to a number of questions forwarded by MaltaToday,  that enquired about the unannounced resignation of Matthew Brincat from his post as Chairman of the Marsa Race Course.

Brincat cited “personal reasons” for his decision to throw in the towel, but sources confirmed that the resignation was tendered in protest at the way things were conducted by the parliamentary secretariat leading to the call for expression of interest.

He declined to comment about his resignation, but MaltaToday is informed that Clyde Puli was engaged in talks with the race course chairman in a bid to convince him to reconsider and stay on, and avoid the embarrassment of facing a political fall-out after the White Rocks Sports Village fiasco.

Puli has been spotted regularly last week having tea and talking to a number of horse racing enthusiasts at the Marsa race course in an apparent bid to convince them of his intentions for the equestrian sport.

But doubts have been raised over the call for the expression of interest, as it transpires that representatives from a prominent developer have met up with officials from Clyde Puli’s secretariat about the project.

When asked about the meetings, a spokesman for Puli’s office admitted that “the vision for the Marsa Sports Village has attracted interest from various quarters including various potential private investors who requested meetings to obtain a better understanding of Government’s vision for the Marsa sports facilities, announced back in 2009.”

The spokesman said that “in all these meetings, the vision was explained, while it was made amply clear that the details of the project still had to be compiled following the conclusion of the consultation process with the relevant sports organisations. It was also explained that the eventual developer will only be chosen by a public tender process.”

The meetings raised eyebrows within many circles, after it transpired that the prominent developer whom the parliamentary secretariat held talks over the project, has a special interest in the whole area, including the development of a hotel and other commercial interests.

 “The call for expression of interest launched last week marks the continuation of the administrative process towards implementing Government’s vision to create state-of-the-art sports facilities in Marsa,” Puli’s spokesman said.

In an email sent to MaltaToday, it was explained by the parliamentary secretariat that the vision for the Marsa Sports Village has been available in the public domain since 2009, and is one of the corner stone initiatives taken by the Parliamentary Secretariat for Youth and Sports.

He added that since government launched the idea about the project, two consultation processes have taken place with interested stakeholders.

“MEPA carried out a public consultation process prior to approving amendments to the Local Plan presented by the Parliamentary Secretariat based on the Master Plan for the Sports Village.”

Another consultation process was carried out by the Parliamentary Secretariat with a number of sports associations, sports clubs and, representatives of various sports disciplines, individual athletes and members of sports organisations.

This consultation process had a dual aim: to provide information on the vision and concept for the Marsa Sports Village and to compile a list of specific requirements for the project based on the wishes of the sports organisations themselves.

According to the parliamentary secretariat, the “call for expression of interest is the result of this consultation process.”