Whilst no future date has been selected as a deadline, Minister for Tourism Konrad Mizzi said that there are still a number of developments which are to be announced in the coming weeks with talks still ongoing.
The proposed deal with Corinthia is for a mega-development which would include a six-star hotel as well as various apartment blocks in St George's Bay. The controversial draft agreement was withdrawn last week and sent back to the drawing board.
"Hopefully we will implement it in the coming weeks, but I want to make sure that the deal ticks all the boxes."
With regards to updates, Mizzi reiterated on a number of changes he mentioned in a presentation he gave at the Parliamentary Environment and Development Planning Committee earlier this month, where a number of groups and individuals were given the opportunity to voice their grievances.
Contact is being made with various stakeholders on the Corinthia deal, he explained, with the stakeholders being representatives of "all groups" who will be affected by this development, further noting that they have started adjusting and redrafting the deeds.
"Essentially, the main changes which we have so far announced relate to the foreshore, whereby the foreshore which is currently occupied by the Marina San Gorg will not be extended beyond the current periods."
Land reclamation has also been ruled out as the government has said the clause will be removed, on top of which Corinthia have made a commitment that during the 99 years they will not request land reclamation in St George's bay, a matter Mizzi stressed was an important issue raised by the environmental NGOs.
The Minister also reiterated that "at any point in time there will not be more than 25,000 square meters of residential development", a decision he said will remove the fears of other developers that there is going to be a flooding of properties in the market.
The 100,000 square meters will be implemented over a period of 15 to 20 years.
"We also ascertained, and Corinthia agreed, that 50% of the site will be used for tourism purposes and landscaping, and I think that's an important commitment that they've also made."
A clause has also been included in the contract if Corinthia want to sell part of the project, they cannot do it without governments consent. The Tourism Minister explained that this was included so that the same issues that occurred with Smart City and other projects do not repeat themselves.
International Hotel Investments (IHI) currently holds a lease on the land in question, where it owns three hotels - but it wants to redevelop the area to hold a six-star hotel as well as have the lease extended to 99 years, and for MPs to remove the currently imposed restriction on tourism development.
The proposal has raised many eyebrows, with some arguing that government, in their proposed deal, made the deal at too low a price, giving the land for €52 million.
The full master plan of the Corinthia development in St George's Bay is not yet known. However, the first phase of the development would if approved, include not only the redevelopment of the Corinthia St George's Bay hotel but also two "luxury serviced residential blocks, the highest proposed to be 15 floors on land located between the current Corinthia and the Radisson Hotel.
Other issues, like one related to automatic land reclamation allowed in the contract, seem to have been addressed government who said this will be removed. However, it is pertinent to note that Corinthia had said that while such an allowance had been in the contract, it was not going to conduct any land reclamation.
The government said that the deal will go through parliament once a conclusion is reached and that it will "naturally fully respect its EU obligations". They also said that "as a matter of standard practice", the government is addressing in "an appropriate manner" the points raised by the various stakeholders.