The company behind the Comino hotel and bungalow redevelopment project said that it “is in no way proposing to establish a residential complex on Comino.”

An Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report about the Comino project was made public last week. The proposal is to redevelop the existing 100-guestroom Comino hotel and bungalows complex located on the north coast of the island of Comino, respectively in San Niklaw Bay and Santa Marija Bay. The redeveloped hotel will comprise of 71 guestrooms, with amenities including food and beverage outlets, outdoor swimming pools, and a spa. A total of 21 bungalows are proposed in place of the existing bungalows.

The EIA revealed that the proposed bungalows on Comino are intended to be sold. “The serviced bungalows will be for sale and prospective owners can opt to put their property in a rental pool, serviced by the hotel. Bungalow owners/guests can make use of the hotel facilities and services,” it read.

This raised concerns as to whether this would lead to the residential use of such bungalows. Indeed, the EIA report implied this possibility.

Part of the EIA report that deals with the ‘disturbance to habitats and species populations of conservation significance’, mentions the concern regarding trampling, and reads as follows: “Impacts from trampling as a result of the presence of tourist accommodation can be expected to be similar. The risk could be reduced with the hotel providing information on the importance of the habitats on the island and encouraging guests to use existing footpaths. However, the proposed change in use of the bungalows from a tourism accommodation complex (Class 3B) that operates for part of the year (like the hotel) to a permanent residential complex (Class 1), with all the changes that implies, including the potential for a substantial increase in the permanent residential population on the island significantly increases the risk. The impact, though uncertain in view that the likelihood of bungalow owners transferring to live permanently on the island is an unknown, would be of major significance in the light that the current resident population counts only 3 persons. Any addition of permanent residents can have a severe impact on the ecology of the island and should not be underestimated.”

The Malta Independent on Sunday sent questions to HV Hospitality Limited, asking them to provide a copy of any contract with the government that is in effect regarding the Comino hotel and bungalow area, whether the contract allows for residential use, and if no, then why the bungalows will be offered for sale and, as per the EIA, be for residential use.

“The contracts with the government related to the Comino hotel and the bungalows are public deeds and are accessible to everyone. The company is in no way proposing to establish a residential complex on Comino. The bungalows, which will be serviced by the Comino hotel, have been designed for holiday use and will be sold as such, in accordance with our application for planning permission for Class 3B,” a spokesperson for HV Hospitality responded.

A Class 3B permit refers to hotels.

The Malta Independent on Sunday also sent a request to the Lands Authority, requesting a copy of any contract that is currently in effect between the government and the site developers for the Comino site and for details of the agreement to be provided. “With reference to the below I kindly ask you to proceed with an FOI (Freedom of Information) request,” a spokesperson for the Authority said. The FOI request has been filed.

Contacted by this newsroom, Moviment Graffitti representative Andre Callus expressed concern at the news that the bungalows would be sold, even though the company is saying they will be sold for holiday use. “It’s a play on words, saying that they will be serviced villas. Instead of using that land for tourism, they want to sell it and make a lot of money from real estate. It is one thing to make an investment in tourism on something which you would continue to take care of, instead they simply want to make a quick buck. They have the land and want to sell it as real estate. Once you sell it, the individuals would do whatever they want with them. They could live in them, they could just go in summer or rent to others. But they would not be an investment by the company in tourism, it would become a real estate investment.”

Callus said: “This project is similar to what is happening at Ħal Ferħ and what could happen in Jerma, where what was meant to be a space for tourism, now includes serviced villas that would be for real estate in the case of al Fer, and possible apartments in the case of Jerma.”

This newsroom asked the Planning Authority to provide the policies that govern the Comino bungalow area, and whether there is any policy that would allow residential development on the hotel or bungalow site in Comino. A Planning Authority spokesperson told this newsroom that “applicable policies (Policy GZ-Ghjn-8 and SPED’s objective GO 1.9) only allow the rehabilitation and / or redevelopment of the hotel, i.e. no change of use is permissible, meaning no residences are permitted on the site of the hotel.” Asked to clarify regarding the bungalow area, the spokesperson said: “the proposed development relates to serviced bungalows as part of the tourist complex.”