Land reclamation project to be selected in policy vacuum

21 land reclamation proposals will see a government committee evaluating a new series of mega-projects that range from a motorsport racing track, to floating villages, business centres and hotel resorts.

And despite an official DOI photo showing the committee witnessing the opening of a box of expressions of interests - amongst them lawyer Andy Ellul, who provided an electoral testimonial for parliamentary secretary for planning Michael Farrugia - the government is refusing to reveal the composition of the board which will assess these projects.

The government dismisses MaltaToday's query by saying that "the evaluation committee is made up of persons who represent various entities and is chaired by architect Duncan Mifsud, from the Government Property Department".

Ellul is also a "substitute member" on MEPA's appeals board, a quasi-judicial tribunal which can overturn MEPA board decisions.

All submissions for land reclamation are to be evaluated according to "the innovative aspects of the projects and on their environmental, social and economical viability", and short-listing will take place during the first weeks of 2014.

Although a MEPA official has been involved in all proceedings for the land reclamation committee, there is intention to formulate a policy on land reclamation despite the massive environmental impact on Malta's coast.

In the meantime, MEPA finds time to create new policies to increase development in outside development zones, and for new fireworks factories.

And in fact MEPA turned a request by planning ombudsman David Pace to formulate such a plan.

The government has not revealed the names of the 17 companies whose proposals include projects extending from Gozo to Marsaxlokk.

And no answer was given to MaltaToday's question on whether the final bidder will be chosen through a public tender issued by the department of contracts, or through a sheer 'expression of interest' where the decision would be taken by government.

Bidders for land reclamation projects have signed a confidentiality agreement in which they acknowledge the government's discretion as to whether or not it issues a competitive tender after the initial bids are analysed by the Government Property Division.

Bidders had to pay a €5,000 fee for the expression of interest, and were binded by a confidentiality agreement not to disclose any information contained in the EOI documents to third parties, for the next three years.

While Michael Farrugia has ruled out accepting bids from World Bank-blacklisted firms, this would mean that government has already precluded itself from accepting bids from China Construction Communications, the corporation currently preparing a 'feasibility study' on the viability of a bridge connecting Gozo to Malta.

Decision in a policy vacuum

While Labour has instructed MEPA to develop new policies on ODZ and fireworks factories and high-rise, no such policy will be drafted to guide planning rules on land reclamation.

Instead a board of hand-picked men will decided on suitable projects, but it remains unclear as to how they will assess this suitability without a proper policy to guide them.

This indicates that government's vision is project-driven, with the private sector dictating public policy. Farrugia himself declared in an interview with MaltaToday that he preferred "that people come up with their own ideas... We will leave prospective bidders free to use their imagination without interfering... We will then conduct a holistic economic, social and environmental evaluation of these projects. If the project is sustainable on all these fronts we will move forward. "

The proposals are being assessed before the birth of the new Environmental Authority, and at a time when MEPA's Environment Directorate has been left without a director since April 2013.

MEPA has also shot down a recommendation by planning ombudsman David Pace for a specific policy regulating the development of the coast and surrounding seas. Accepting this proposal would have ensured that any land reclamation project would be subject to a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) as required by EU law.

As things stand, no SEA can take place because of the absence of a policy regulating planning in coastal and marine zones.

But Pace said that a policy would have allowed interested developers to have "a clear indication whether his proposal could be favourably approved."

Instead MEPA is insisting that the planning framework for coastal and marine development will be addressed by the Strategic Plan for Environment and Development, which is to replace the Structure Plan approved in 1992. Work on the SPED is to be finalised in the coming months.

An SEA is also being conducted on the SPED, but this solution will fall short of a specific plan to regulate marine and coastal development. Marine and coastal development is in fact one of many themes addressed by the SPED, which allows MEPA to developer other specific local plans that can address development on land.

The SPED consultation document, issued back in 2012, includes as an objective the creation of a planning framework for the coast, and the management of shipping, fisheries, and oil exploration, as well as renewable energy infrastructure.

But several questions crop up over government's present intention, to leave it up to the private sector to propose sites for land reclamation, unlike the former administration's decision to first identify a suitable site: would government set parameters to restrict land reclamation to those sites with the fewest environmental consequences, or will the private sector propose sites wherever it likes?

And since out of 11 land reclamation sites proposed back in 2005, only two were eligible due to the absence of EU-protected Posidonia meadows, would the government exclude any site with Posidonia meadows?

Another danger is that the bidder is chosen before the project is even approved by MEPA: would this pre-selection not render the environmental impact studies - conducted after the project selection - a mere formality?  

A legal obstacle: the Posidonia Meadows

Posidonia meadows are found in most Maltese coastal areas and are a priority natural habitat under the EU Habitats Directive.

MEPA can only approve a project that is clearly in breach of EU directives in the event that it must be completed for reasons of "overriding public interest".

But if this is the case, Malta will have to inform the European Commission and compensate for the loss of habitat.

A study on land reclamation commissioned by MEPA in 2007 and conducted by British experts Scott Wilson, had concluded that "land reclamation for the purpose of accommodating inert waste and creating land for development is not of sufficient national importance for the project to go ahead".

The study was conducted after Lawrence Gonzi declared the government's intention to embark on a project to create an artificial island on the coastline, on the same day he announced the Xaghra l-Hamra golf course in 2005. Both projects were aborted after studies questioned the viability of both projects.

The study considered land reclamation options in two areas identified in a study by Danish experts Carl Bros: the area between Pembroke and Qawra; and an area between Xghajra and Marsaskala.

Scott Wilson's study further limited land reclamation to areas without seagrass beds, and therefore limited to the northern part of the coastline between Xghajra and Marsaskala. It excluded the majority of the proposed reclaimed areas on the Bahar ic-Caghaq (Area 1) coast, which coincide with Posidonia oceanica communities.

This seagrass species, often called 'Neptune Grass' and which inhabits most of the Maltese and Gozitan coastline, is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea and known as the lung of the Mediterranean.

It forms large underwater meadows that are an important part of the ecosystem and is found only in the Mediterranean Sea, where it is in decline, occupying an area of only about 3% of the basin. Posidonia grows best in clean waters, and its presence is a marker of a lack of pollution. Seagrasses are responsible for 12% of the carbon stored in ocean sediments and play a significant role in the regulation of the global carbon cycle. In daylight, Posidonia oceanica meadows help oxygenate coastal waters.

The cost of land reclamation

The Scott Wilson report said estimated costs for each of the 11 reclamation "shapes" in the two areas would range from €42 million to €546 million, leading it to conclude that that other measures should be considered "to reduce the size of the construction waste stream, before embarking on such as high cost project".

It proposed a more cost-effective option in the form an "inlet in-fill" formed by construction waste, across the mouth of the inlet at Qalet Marku, but this was excluded because of ecological reasons.

Placing construction waste for land reclamation can range from €15 to €40 per cubic metre, compared to just €3 to throw it back into quarries, or €4 to dump it at sea.

Scott Wilson suggested that the cost of land reclamation should be offset by the project's viability, taking as an example Smart City, the internet village. But it also said that "there remains a question mark over whether there is sufficient demand for this scale of development".

One of the advantages of land reclamation is the absorption of construction waste currently being disposed in quarries or in an offshore dump. But it is doubtful whether Malta generates enough construction debris in the short term. Malta currently generates 1.3 million tons of construction debris annually, while anything between 5 and 20 million tons of debris would be needed for a feasible land reclamation project.

Perversely, land reclamation projects may create even more demand for construction waste, thus undermining any attempt at its proper management.