The proposed contract to be signed between the government and Sadeen Group, which will be operating the American University of Malta, will be declared null and void if the group fails to obtain and hold accredidation for the University, a government spokesperson said today during a briefing.
The spokesperson said the contract was not presented to MPs earlier because the final draft was only finalised a few days ago.
In an earlier parliamentary committee meeting, it emerged that the government is pushing the AUM land transfer while the accreditation has not yet been granted by the National Commission for Further and Higher Education.
Education Minister Evarist Bartolo presented government's recommendation to transfer land at Zonqor and Dock 1 in Bormla to the Sadeen Group, in the National Audit Office Accounts Committee.
PN MP Jason Azzopardi had asked whether, considering the NCFHE has not yet granted the accreditation, this move proves the accreditation for the university is a sham.
Minister Bartolo argued that all processes regarding the University are ongoing simultaneously, otherwise the project would take 20 years to conclude. He assured that everything will depend on whether or not the 'university' gets accredited by the NCFHE.
The Opposition also argued that they received the documents required to debate this last night at 20.00h, and said they did not have enough time to study everything given the late hour in which they arrived.
The project will bring a €104 million initial investment, as well as create 300 jobs, the minister said. He also said that once fully operational, it will hold 4,000 students.
It will include 5 colleges laboratories, a library, language institute, and other facilities. The colleges will be: Arts and Education, Business and Management, Communications and IT, Engineering, and Sciences.
Donations of scholarships to Maltese students will amount to 1-3% of the total students, and the management of these scholarships will be given by government.
Sadeen Group has its head office in Jordan. The idea behind this new university has drawn severe criticism since its original announcement. Following a public outcry when it was announced that the university would be purely built in Zonqor, a call for alternative locations was announced, and it was decided that the university would be divided in two locations.
The PN said that an area exists in Tarxien amounting to around 21,000 sq m and the minister was asked why it wasn;t considered. The minister said that each and every proposal was considered and in fact, the plans changed drastically from the original proposal.
Both sides agreed that more time was needed to discuss the issue, however arguments broke out between the two party whips regarding procedure, with PN Whip David Agius stressing the need to bring these contracts before the PN Parliamentary group before holding a debate. Deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech suggested the topic be debated in plenary on Monday, however this caused arguments by both sides due to something that had been agreed upon in the House Business Committee with both sides calling for a ruling from the Speaker.
The Committe adjourned and will meet again on Monday at 6.30 pm to continue debating the issue.