The Parliamentary Environment and Development Planning Committee is today discussing the proposed deal with Corinthia, for the mega development which would include a six-star hotel as well as various apartment blocks in St George's Bay. The request for this discussion was made by a number of NGOs as well as the Nationalist Party.
International Hotel Investments (IHI) currently holds a lease on the land in question, where it owns three hotels - but it wants to redevelop the area to hold a six-star hotel as well as have the lease extended to 99 years, and for MPs to remove the currently imposed restriction on tourism development.
The proposal has raised many eyebrows, with some arguing that government, in their proposed deal, made the deal at too low a price, giving the land for €52 million.
The full master plan of the Corinthia development in St George's Bay is not yet known. However, the first phase of the development would, if approved, include not only the redevelopment of the Corinthia St George's Bay hotel but also two "luxury serviced residential blocks, the highest proposed to be 15 floors on land located between the current Corinthia and the Radisson Hote
Other issues, like one related to automatic land reclamation allowed in the contract, seem to have been addressed government who said this will be removed. However it is pertinent to note that Corinthia had said that while such an allowance had been in the contract, it was not going to conduct any land reclamation.
The government said that the deal will go through parliament once a conclusion is reached and that it will "naturally fully respect its EU obligations". They also said that "as a matter of standard practice", the government is addressing in "an appropriate manner" the points raised by the various stakeholders.
from The Malta Independent http://bit.ly/2WCDFeq
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