‘Unacceptable for government to propose virgin land for university’ – Din l-Art Helwa

It is unacceptable for the government to have proposed virgin land at Zonqor Point for the construction of a new private university, environmental NGO Din l-Art Helwa warned.

“While proposals to encourage educational institutions to open branches in Malta are to be encouraged, the most recent proposal to open a university is suspect, given that it is led by a developer rather than by an educational establishment,” Din l-Art Helwa said in a statement. “The land which government has put on the table will become worth millions to certain individuals as a commercial building site, however it is worth far, far more to our future generations.”

Earlier this week, the government signed an agreement with the Jordanian Sadeen Group for the construction of the private ‘American University of Malta’, part of whose curriculum will be designed by the Chicago-based DePaul University.

Din l-Art Helwa cited unnamed government soruces who told the Times of Malta that the project will

“This just shows that the government is disregarding the environmental cost of using up more countryside, when other sites might be available,” DlH said. “At a stroke, the government would enable a piece of ODZ land to increase in value by some €100 million gifting such value to the developer at the cost of the Maltese people, both present and future generations. The owners of the site, who now stand to benefit from their land changing in value, include people who were renowned during the era of former controversial public works Labour minister Lorry Sant.”

A spokesperson for the Malta Environment and Planning Authority told MaltaToday that a preliminary site assessment had been carried out, with “the proposed site deemed as an acceptable site.”

A full site selection exercise will be carried out as part of the environmental impact assessment after a project description statement is submitted for MEPA’s evaluation.

However, Din l-Art Helwa said that this site selection exercise is likely to be a sham.

“The site has already been chosen, just as the consultation exercise with environmental NGOs at the eleventh hour was more like a marketing exercise, and also a complete sham,” DlH said. “The government seems hell-bent on developing the coastal area near Zonqor and Xghajra, when the south of Malta is crying out for open spaces. An inadequately thought out proposal to build three hotels was first encouraged, and now this university which is to be built and managed by building contractors. Clearly the Government sees no value in the countryside except as a source for speculation.”

They called on MEPA to release its full assessment and criteria used to seem the ODZ coutnryeisde near Zonqor as ‘acceptable’ for development.

“The way that this site was selected raises many questions, including whether any alternatives were seriously considered,” DlH said. “If this site is now being opened for development on the flimsiest pretext, what price the rest of the countryside?”

They called for the university to be sited on a dilapidated site, or within existing buildings instead. “Open spaces should be preserved for the well-being of the community, as a respite from the concrete jungle that MEPA is now encouraging,” DlH said. “Whether modern or historic buildings are identified, a project of this type should be accommodated close to population centres and not in the countryside.”

“As the Environmental Impact Assessment must consider alternative sites, these should include government-owned, under-utilized buildings of which there are plenty, even in the south of Malta.”

Din l-Art Helwa and seven other environmental NGOs have previously called for the American University of Malta to be sited across several historic forts in the Kalkara-Zonqor region. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has previously  said that MEPA will consider alternative sties for the university.