Moviment Graffitti said today it is strongly opposed to the proposed deal that would gift public land to the Corinthia group for real estate development and two hotels. The proposed deal is intrinsically wrong, on every level. It would give away public land, a rare and precious resource in a small country like Malta, for a pittance; and this land will be used for a monstrous project that will have a disastrous impact on people and the environment.
It seems that under the proposed deal, the Corinthia group will be paying a meagre 17 million euros premium for a vast stretch of land situated in a prime site. This will be primarily used to build luxury apartments for the super-rich, meaning that Corinthia will be raking in hundreds of millions of euros through selling apartments on land they would have gotten practically for free. Moreover, the land in question will never revert to public ownership. This is a blatant case of land theft by big business from the people. It is the epitome of greed and injustice, especially when taken in the current Maltese context of many people facing hardships with buying or renting a home.
What has transpired so far about this project is truly alarming. Corinthia would build nothing less than 12 towers with over 500 apartments, a volume equal to three times the other monstrous project proposed by the db Group on the ITS site. This will clearly have a deleterious impact on the coast and Natura 2000 sites, and it will bury alive residents in the surrounding localities under traffic, pollution, noise and intensive commercial activity. It would also destroy large parts of the seabed through land reclamation and close public access to a significant portion of the foreshore. As this area was never meant for such development, for this project to be approved, the Local Plan will have to be amended. Government would be changing the rules of the game in order to accommodate big business.
A proper assessment of the true impact of this project will also be impossible, since a Masterplan is not yet in place. Notwithstanding repeated promises to develop a Masterplan for the area, a prerequisite for understanding the impact of so many massive projects next to each other, there are no signs of such Masterplan as yet. However, when considering the list of massive developments that are being approved in this area, coupled with the proposal for land reclamation, it is becoming increasingly clear that a secret Masterplan, not approved through the normal democratic channels, is being implemented by the Maltese authorities. This is a Masterplan that fully transforms that area in a gold-mine for the very wealthy, and completely ignores quality of life considerations and environmental protection.
Moviment Graffitti called on all social forces to oppose the proposed Corinthia deal as we cannot allow the very few to steal our country and ruin our future without giving them a fight.