Air Malta and MEPA have held informal talks on possible development at the Selmun Palace Hotel but no applications have been submitted to the planning authority so far, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said in a reply tabled in Parliament.

Dr Muscat was replying to a parliamentary question by PN MP Censu Galea, who asked whether it was true that Selmun Palace asked MEPA for a permit for a large scale extension. If so, what proposals have been made and how were they regarded by MEPA.

Selmun Palace has been closed for three years and both the government and Air Malta have tried, unsuccessfully, to sell the hotel.

In reply to a similar PQ, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said any development proposal would have to go through the channels laid down by law. The government, he said, aimed at making Selmun Palace a reference point in the North of Malta.