The government is aiming to fast-track the controversial agreement with Sadeen Group – the Jordanian company that will be running the American University of Malta.

The government published the draft agreement signed with Sadeen Group last Thursday, on the day of a Parliamentary Committee debate on the matter.

This has paved the way for the transfer of the Zonqor Point and Cospicua sites to Sadeen Group, which the government hopes to finalise next week.

Education Minister Evarist Bartolo placed the emphasis on speed this year, saying that once the contract is approved by Parliament, it would need to be signed within a year, or a new one would have to be drafted.

If signed as is, Sadeen Group would pledge to invest €104 million to complete the project, and will create around 300 jobs once at full capacity, and attract 4,000 students.

The group would be obliged to launch temporary operations by 31 October 2016, operate two colleges within 25 months of obtaining all permits and complete the entire project within a period of 73 months from the issuing of all the required permits.

If work at Cospicua is not sufficient for operations to begin from there, the government said, Sadeen Group will launch operations initially from Smart City.

The Committee and Parliament has not yet been given any information on the educational capacity and knowhow of Sadeen Group, which has yet to obtain the necessary accreditation to operate the AUM.

The contract between the government and Sadeen Group will be declared null and void if the latter fails to obtain and hold accreditation for the University from the National Commission for Further and Higher Education.

The proposed draft contract for the land transfer between the government and Sadeen Group would allow government to take direct control over AUM in certain situations.

This would not be as simple as it sounds, as the government would need to reapply for accreditation, which would have been granted expressly to the Sadeen Group, meaning that the running of the AUM cannot be transferred that easily if the Group were to go bankrupt and pull out.

The contract leaves Sadeen Group in an enviable position. They are being given a five-year monopoly for the American University brand, and after that there are no restrictions on changes in shareholding, meaning that the project can be sold on by the Group.

Apart from the University itself, the Group will be operating restaurants, entertainment facilities and dormitories on site.

The operation of these ancillary facilities can be sub-contracted to anyone, and Sadeen may give sub-emphyteusis within the Group.

The contract does not expressly define these “ancillary facilities”, raising the possibility that it can effectively run a small village with all types of facilities such as retail outlets and entertainment venues.

All this will potentially come at a cost to the government, which has agreed in the contract with Sadeen Group to provide AUM with the entire infrastructure required for provision of electricity, water and sewage disposal.

Despite the students’ entertainment needs being well catered for in the contract, their educational ones seem to take a back seat.

The contract merely states that Sadeen Group is bound to provide facilities and standards for the operation of the AUM in accordance with “generally accepted standards” and the relevant legislation.

Such facilities and standards shall include “endeavours to maintain high-levels of student general satisfaction”, according to the contract.

Questions were raised from the outset about the role of De Paul University in the whole matter. The very name of the University gives the impression that its programmes are accredited by the United States or based on US-accredited programmes.

De Paul University has made it clear that it will only be advising AUM and not offering any accredited programmes, therefore AUM students will ultimately be following Maltese-accredited