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Kurt Sansone
A 16-day time window should suffice for potential contenders to study and draw up detailed plans on how best to develop the area currently occupied by the former Malta Shipbuilding according to the Government investment agency Mimcol.
But interested parties talking to MaltaToday have expressed serious reservations at the haste demanded by Mimcol for a tender worth Lm25,000.
The invitation to tender for ‘the drawing up of a development brief for the ex-Malta shipbuilding site (including peripheral areas) at Marsa’ was issued by Mimcol on 16 May this year and interested parties have until noon of 31 May to submit their proposals.
The tender dossier, seen by MaltaToday, states that the selected bidder will be notified of the award on 24 June and the contract will be signed on 1 July.
The site previously owned by Malta Shipbuilding was transferred to Government when the Drydocks restructuring took place two years ago. Surprisingly there has been no fanfare about the intention to get the ball rolling to develop this prime location along the Grand Harbour.
The objective of the brief shall be to provide a land-use framework for the redevelopment of the sites indicated by Mimcol and to provide clear guidance on the site’s potential to attract investment and create new employment opportunities.
The tender makes it clear that the primary land use envisaged for the site, both in terms of land-use planning policy within the Grand Harbour Local Plan, and in terms of national economic strategy, is for maritime related operations that require immediate access to the shoreline.
The consultants will also have to investigate the feasibility of alternative land uses such as oil and gas related operations, cold storage, steel fabrication and similar industries. “All suggested land uses shall however be clearly supported by primary feasibility studies,” the Mimcol brief states
Interested parties have exactly 16 days to prepare an account of the historic context of the site in terms of origins land use and its development, describe the site in terms of size, topography, geographic location, existing land uses and built development among other commitments.
Potential tenderers told MaltaToday that the extent of work required to satisfy Mimcol’s brief makes it almost impossible to prepare the bid by the stipulated deadline.
kurt@newsworksltd.com
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