Transport Malta has released a call for a tender for the construction of a massive yacht marina sprawling across Marsascala Bay.
The 52-page tender document presents a preliminary design for the marina which sprawls across the whole of the bay and caters for a total of over 700 yachts of varying lengths.
The description reads: “The scope of the Project is to design, construct, maintain and operate a Marina in Marsascala, Malta, with the objective of developing Marsascala into a yachting centre, making it and the southern region area more appealing to the tourist industry.”
“The Project shall include the design, supply and installation of pontoons, mooring bays, and other infrastructure including a breakwater, together with the necessary and ancillary equipment and safety installations for the provision of berthing services established in the area for the berthing of vessels”, it continues.
“The aim is to provide for the right infrastructure for the yachting industry to grow and prosper, taking into consideration environmentally friendly measures”, it concludes.
The marking criteria for applicants is based on the organisation and experience of the personnel assigned for the project (10%), capital investment and studies (30%), technical merit of the offer and method statement (40%), and its environmental plans (20%), before then taking into consideration the financials of the offer.
The evaluation mechanism is listed as “best price-quality ratio.”
The marina would be built across the whole of Marsascala Bay, which currently hosts a sleepy fishing area and will soon also host a new waterpolo pitch.
NGO Moviment Graffitti blasted the project, saying that the project was excessive and would take up a lot of public space which people use for swimming and recreation.
They questioned why this project was necessary and how Transport Malta could call it environmentally friendly when there is a lot of dredging involved.
“This project is not in the public interest, but is in the interest of certain businessmen who want to make hay without respecting the community which they are in”, they said.
The project comes amidst major worries amongst residents and NGOs alike about plans to transform Marsascala – a transformation which they fear is being done to serve specific businessmen and which they fear will change the characteristics of the town for the worse once and for all.
The Malta Independent on Sunday had in fact reported some months ago how residents feared a proposed regeneration contest which was announced by the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) after a saga involving a so-called Regeneration Committee set up by the local council initially as a transport and infrastructure sub-committee and made up by businessmen with an interest in changing up the locality’s square.
Residents told The Malta Independent on Sunday that the Marsaskala Regeneration Committee was made up of individuals with self-serving business interests in the locality, and how they had opened talks with state entities for massive changes to areas such as Marsaskala’s main square behind their backs as residents, and without informing the local council itself.