A tract of ODZ land in Mellieha which was offered up as a tender for beekeeping “will not be touched”, PN MP Robert Cutajar told his followers following a meeting with Prime Minister Robert Abela.
Cutajar, who was elected from Mellieha’s 12th district, presented a petition against the tender in parliament today.
He said on Facebook that he had then had a meeting with the Prime Minister where he was told that the land “will not be touched.”
“I’m pleased that common sense with the good of the community in mind has won,” Cutajar said.
The issue surrounds a lease by the Lands Authority of an agricultural site located outside the development zone in Mellieha to set up a bee keeping facility. The tender would lease the land for 15 years and tenders are to be accompanied by a Bid-Bond for an amount of €27,000 as stipulated in the tender conditions. Offers below the amount of €9,000 per annum will not be considered.
This particular case rightly raised many questions and doubts over how logical or genuine the reason for the Authority to have issued this call, Cutajar had said when he first raised the issue some days ago.
"Beekeepers who I spoke with found it very strange how this particular zone will be used for beekeeping. There are a number of reasons, including that it is near a zone that is residential, with a road next to it, which does not make the place suitable for beekeeping."
He had said that the price mentioned in the tender for the rent of the land where, whoever tries to take the land, complicit with the Lands Authority, would need to have hundreds of boxes which would house millions of bees to cover the costs, "and this seems to be impossible."
It has been understood that the Malta Beekeeping Association had not been consulted about the tender, and that a major construction developer was in line to win the tender.