In his opinion piece about the Villa Rosa project, Carmel Cacopardo (The coast and coastal areas belong to all of us, TMIS, 26 March, 2023) makes a number of arguments that merit a response.
Firstly, he argues that the coast belongs to the public and should not be touched or intensified. As the owners of the Villa Rosa site behind St George’s Bay, we agree that the beach should be left untouched. In fact, we are proposing to turn our private land into almost 11,000 sqm of public open space. Rather than imposing ourselves on the coast, we are giving more space to the public to enjoy this coastline.
Cacopardo argues that in Malta, “public land is continuously being transformed into private profits”. In this case, the opposite is true. Private land is being given for public use, while still being maintained privately at the cost of the site’s owners.
Cacopardo also seems to question the economic viability of this touristic project given the number of tourism arrivals in Malta. This economic risk is being fully borne by ourselves as developers of this site. We are convinced that by working with some of the top brands in the world, including one of the leading architectural firms, we are producing a world-class project that will attract a new quality of tourist to Malta.
Not only do we expect to exceed our targets, but we also believe we will help Malta attract a higher tourism spend with fewer tourists, something that has been a national mission for decades.
Anton Camilleri
Garnet Investments Limited