Two Turkish and one Italian company along with three other Italian individuals make up one of the joint ventures bidding for the proposed Marsascala yacht marina, information tabled in Parliament reveals.

Harbour Management JV is one of four bidders for Transport Malta’s controversial idea of a yacht marina in Marsascala Bay – an idea which has prompted much criticism from residents and activists alike.

The joint venture is made up of the Turkish companies Onepage Teknoloji ve Turizm Yatirimleri A.S. and Iven Insaat Marina Yatirimleri ve Ticaret A.S., along with the Italian company MCS S.r.l.

Italian engineer Stefano Puppo, architect Marcofilippo Alborno, and geologist Marco Abbo complete the joint venture.

Scala Marina JV, another joint venture which submitted a bid for the project, meanwhile is made up of five local companies.

These are Marina Di Valletta Ltd, Naipaul Developments Ltd, V & C Contractors Ltd, Bitmac Limited, and Schembri Barbros Ltd.

The two remaining bidders are P. Borg Ltd and Bonnici Brothers Services Ltd.

The information was tabled in Parliament by Transport Minister Ian Borg, in response to a parliamentary question posed by PN MP Chris Said.

The controversial project, which was first revealed in August, would substantially increase the current berthing capacity to a minimum of at least 700 berths in the Marina pertaining to the Project, and take up the vast majority of Marsascala Bay.

Calculations and research by Transport Malta, as revealed by The Malta Independent on Sunday, placed the estimated procurement value of the project at €183,233,983 based on the estimated turnover across a concession term of 50 years.