Gonzi's volte-face on White Rocks real estate deal
The Prime Minister has accepted to allow 300 residential units at White Rocks after having denied this same opportunity to the Maltese tenderers on the White Rocks development brief
MaltaToday reports today how prime minister Lawrence Gonzi had "categorically" denied a Maltese consortium to develop real estate on the holiday complex earmarked for the White Rocks area, which is now being accorded to the British consortium that will construct the €200 million White Rocks sports and leisure village.
The Maltese businessmen were tenderers on the 1995 White Rocks development brief. They had spent five years negotiating the specifics of their holiday complex between 1998 and 2003 with the tourism ministry. In 2003 they asked to be allowed to develop real estate in the holiday complex area, to compensate for the downward trend in travel after 9/11 and the SARS epidemic. Their request was refused by then prime minister Eddie Fenech Adami.
Gonzi later refused this request in 2004, when he met the Maltese consortium. But now, the British consortium of realtors will be allowed 300 residential units, considered 'necessary' to render the project feasible.
More of this story in today's MaltaToday on Sunday