Why not in my backyard?

Denying Alfred Sant’s allegation that government wants to build a golf course in Ghajn Tuffieha to favour their secluded hotel, Winston Zahra and his namesake son admit it would not be a bad development to have next door. Definitely better than Maghtab

With the awful Maghtab rubbish dump spewing out toxic fumes next to their other hotel on the Qawra coastline, Winston Zahra and his son wouldn’t mind having a golf course next to their new hotel at Golden Bay.
Were it not for the government’s bright idea to fast-track a whole golf course project on the secluded cliffs of Ghajn Tuffieha, the lonely Golden Sands Hotel overlooking the splendid bay would remain the only tourist attraction there, apart from the sea, of course.
But the government now intends to bring more tourists, thousands of them – 30,000 a year according to Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech – who apart from the sandy beach will be also venturing onto the green turf to be laid over the garigue, the agricultural land and the archaeological remains.
Breaking virtually every planning consideration possible, government reminded MEPA to look at this idyllic site after the planning authority had come up with its own list of places where a golf course could be opened, upon the prime minister’s direct orders. Unsurprisingly, the site was ‘chosen’ by MEPA and the shortlist abandoned. Now, an environment impact assessment paid by taxpayers is going on without any tenders issued for the study, all the farmers – more than 30 – have been evicted, and civil society is up in arms against this whole dodgy project.
The Opposition Leader went further. He said the golf course was intended to favour none other than the owners of the hotel, presently still under construction but set to host 53 Commonwealth heads of government in November. The owners are suing him for libel.
“What he said is a blatant lie,” says Winston the elder, puffing a cigar in his bare office on the construction site. “I object to people talking like that about me.”
He points out how his group of companies, Island Hotels, was started 18 years ago employing 25 people, building up on its successes which today count four hotels, a bed stock of 3,000 beds and over 1,000 staff.
“This was not achieved by asking for favours, I never ask for favours. We achieved this through sheer hard work, dedication, and determination.”
To the question of how this isolated resort could fill its 337 rooms all year round without a golf course, Zahra speaks of a feasibility report drawn up before he purchased the old Golden Sands Hotel two years ago to rebuild it. And the main marketing strategy in that report is timeshare, under a new corporate, unobtrusive guise also known as “vacation ownership”.
“Before going in for the purchase, as we always do, we did a feasibility report on three aspects. The first aspect was vacation ownership, the second was leisure with tour operators, and the third was conference and incentive travel. We are already involved in all these aspects. We never thought that a golf course would be built near this hotel. In fact we got to know about the golf course through the media, when the government announced it through a press conference.”
Zahra denies in absolute terms knowing that government decided to have a golf course there before the public, even less discussing it with any minister.
“I deny it in the strongest way possible. I’ve never talked to anybody about the golf course, nobody ever talked to me about it, and whoever is trying to associate us with the golf course is doing a big mistake and he’s barking up the wrong tree. As I said already the golf course came like a bolt out of the sky, we never knew about it, and we got to know about it through the media, like everybody else.”
Let’s admit it, Mr Zahra, this bolt from the sky is not a bad omen for your business here. Not bad at all.
“Of course, having a golf course by the hotel would be beneficial, but our hotel does not depend on the golf course,” he says. “In fact our three marketing aspects have already been put into operation and they are very successful. As far as the vacation club we started our marketing even before the hotel started being built and to date, two years later, the sales have been overwhelmingly successful.
But do you blame people for thinking like Sant? You have been complaining for ages that the Maghtab rubbish dump ruined your Coastline Hotel. Now they might see this golf course as government’s attempt to make up for all that disaster outside your other hotel.
“I see no connection whatsoever,” he replies decidedly. “Maghtab was a problem for the Coastline. We fought, I personally took the initiative and organised the committee against the Maghtab. I don’t think the government paid any attention to what I was saying. Only now they did something about it and the action they are taking really and truly, if it happens because it seems that it’s not going to happen – the engineered landfill – it will still be detrimental to our hotel. But there’s no connection whatsoever.
“Personally I am not politically minded, at all. I used to be, today I’m not. Politicians should stick to the political side of life and they should leave people like myself out of their agenda. We are here to work, we are here to invest, we are here to create employment, and we are here to make money. I’m not ashamed of that.”
So what is your position about this golf course here? Do you think it’s a good idea?
“It’s still too early to say, I really cannot comment on that. As I said already, the golf course is something which came out of the blue. Yes it can be beneficial to the hotel, but the success of the hotel is far from being dependent on the golf course.”
Eventually the MTA will issue a call for tenders to develop this golf course. Would you be interested in it?
“Well I don’t know. I mean normally what happens is that the government, when it happens, will issue a request for proposals. One then has a look at it, we might be interested, we might not, it’s still too early to say. I’m too engrossed in developing this hotel at the moment to think about it.”
Indeed. The 65-year-old entrepreneur is focused on his latest multi-million project, as energetic and on the field as his son, who also accompanies his father during our interview. It was the young Winston’s idea to demolish the old hotel against just refurbishing it.
Before we joined his father for the interview, Winston jnr took me around the place which will gather all of the Commonwealth’s heads of state and their companions under one roof for that momentous week in November, known as CHOGM. Perhaps the greatest politically uneventful gathering on the sphere, but of high celebrity value, with monarchs, presidents and dictators expecting royal treatment and protocol fancies famously dubbed by former Prime Minister Dom Mintoff as “nejk” – the Maltese idiomatic equivalent of bullshit.
One such protocol diktat was precisely that these outlandish world leaders and their entourages are given 72 identical deluxe suites of 110 squared metres each, nothing more, nothing less – all animals are equal in the Commonwealth elite farm. They will enjoy plasma screens, kitchenettes, separate bathrooms, soundproof suites, spacious living rooms and uncompromised finishing blending with the landscape outside.
The views from the sixth floor, where some of the prime ministers and presidents will be hosted, are, simply, stunning. The two presidential suites above, still being finished, will hold an exclusive jacuzzi on a terrace overlooking the bay, expected to cost around Lm650 a night.
But with works far from finished, the CHOGM deadline sounds ticking like a time bomb. On the field, with hardhat on and radio in hand, the two Winstons mingle among all the builders, tile layers, truck drivers, bar tenders, room cleaners and gardeners planting Mediterranean trees, seeing work developing by the hour, commissioned to some 20 contractors with over 400 construction workers. As we speak, workers are tarmacing the road that will lead all guests to the three towers of the resort. It is surfaced in one hour.
“The hotel is at a very advanced stage and we’re finishing off now,” Zahra snr says. “Someone who comes here like you and sees it as it is might say there’s still another year’s work, but I look at it completely differently because I know exactly where we are, exactly what’s happening, and it’s changing from hour to hour. So when the conference arrives and it’s over I can assure you that we will make Malta proud.”
There is another headache, as serious as the actual completion, but one that is not in the hands of the Zahras – security. The hotel and its perimeter will be completely closed off for CHOGM week, secret service agents will control all access and surveillance of the area together with foreign forces.
“I hope they’ll let us in,” says Zahra senior cracking a laugh, although he immediately clarifies that Island Hotels will keep running the hotel for that week. The MI6 agents and rooftop snipers will only be there to secure the peace.
“I’m sure the government is well-organised,” Winston snr says. “With just one road leading to this hotel and being on a cliff, it should be a plus for security.”
His son joins in: “In fact, one of the main reasons why we were awarded the heads of state retreat is specifically because of the location. As a secluded location it’s ideal for a retreat but it also gives you added benefits from a security point of view.”
It was while the younger Zahra was president of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA), that his hotel got the cherry on the CHOGM cake, although he insists everything was above board and, truth be said, none of the other five-star hoteliers said one word against the deal.
To the contrary, Zahra united all five-star hotels that were bidding separately for the delegations.
“We thought it would be a good idea to get together and agree on a standard, unique, contract of all the hotels put together. Government agreed, we sat down and hammered out that contract, and in fact it was signed last Thursday.”
Isn’t that a bit like forming a cartel?
“No, no, we agreed with government. A cartel would be if you formed a group to blackmail the purchaser. In this case it was negotiated with government, once the terms were agreed then we signed.”
And no awkward feelings heading MHRA and securing this fantastic retreat deal for all CHOGM heads in this hotel at the same time, making it the centre of attraction?
“No, because it was totally separate,” he replies. “The negotiations were being done with all five-star hotels around the table. There was absolutely no conflict of interest at all. It was cards on the table throughout, everybody knew the situation, and everybody understood why the heads of state will be put here. I don’t think I’ve seen one single comment from hotels or anyone else asking why this one was chosen. And everyone is getting a slice of the CHOGM cake, so everyone is happy in November. It was all done fairly, above board, and in the two years I was on MHRA everything was done with the full knowledge, and backing, of the MHRA council.”
This hotel was mentioned by right-wing fascists on an internet site as employing irregular immigrants – an issue which evidently brings out diverse approaches from father and son. Zahra snr says that, there again, “it’s yet another lie” stemming from “jealousy”.
“The only people that we employ are working for the hotel. Then we give contracts to contractors and we have no control over them. Frankly even all this thing about the golf course, I put it down to jealousy, and nothing else. I repeat again that politicians should stick to politics and they should applaud people like us, whoever is an entrepreneur and trying to be an entrepreneur. That’s money, risking money because not all investments are successful, pumping millions into the Maltese economy. We should be left in peace and allowed to work without having to think about these stupid things like what Alfred Sant uttered on Thursday.”
Zahra jnr, on the other hand, shows a grasp, and abhorrence, of the racial prejudice fuelling this kind of sinister publicity.
“The website you’re referring to was brought to our attention last Wednesday, because it’s not exactly a site we would visit,” he says coolly. “We’ve referred it to our lawyers, because they did not only mention the Golden Sands but they mentioned other companies within our group. It’s categorically untrue, everyone we employ is fully, legally employed. We have a reputation of employing Maltese in the past, and we pride ourselves of that, and the allegations again, apart from being untrue, are downright racist and disgusting.”
Steering the discussion onto the bigger picture of tourism, the Zahras confirm it is a bleak one. Government set a benchmark of 50,000 tourists more than last year, a sort of stick and carrot approach for the Malta Tourism Authority to get more funding after Gonzi sliced Lm0.5 million last year.
“At the moment the numbers are pretty much at par with last year,” Zahra jnr says. “Figures I saw yesterday show that we’re 1 per cent less than last year. Winter this year was terrible. Obviously the winter ahead is going to have a good start because of CHOGM, but that is a one-off, and the rest of winter is extremely worrying.”
Zahra jnr was one of the people entrusted with devising a restructuring road map for the Malta Tourism Authority. He says it now has to be carried out “urgently”.
“Government is committed, or has stated that it is committed, to get the restructuring by the end of September. Hopefully by the end of this month we’ll see the new authority in gear, focusing much more on marketing and selling the island, than on other aspects which in my opinion are not MTA’s domain.”
MTA has taken a lot of responsibilities from government departments, he says, including licensing, enforcement and monitoring the tourism industry.
“It has lost focus. I personally believe that MTA should be the marketing body of the island, not the enforcement arm or the police force of the tourism industry. All MTA should be doing is thinking 24 hours a day of how we can increase the number of people, increase the length of stay, and increase the average spend. If they do that, within a two year period, we can grow the numbers from 1.2 million to 1.6 million with a better seasonal spread.”
What happened however is that government cut down the MTA’s budget last June from Lm8.5 million to Lm8million, halfway through the peak season.
“I had said at the time it was not a wise decision at all. What we had said prior to the budget, as MHRA, was that if you are going to limit MTA’s budget in any way, do it up front, but at least encourage them with a performance bonus type of system, and that is what I think government tried to do.”
His father, also a previous MHRA president, gives his piece of wisdom: “I feel that it does not make sense that you just shoot a figure and say that if you get 50,000 more you give them more money. What is important is that the MTA is focused on marketing. What is very worrying in fact is that when I was president of MHRA seven years ago, and we had done a study at the time showing that for all the hotels on the island to be profitable they needed an average occupancy of 65 per cent, that is around 1.6 million tourists, each staying 10 nights. Seven years ago we used to get 1.2 million, today we’re still getting that number of tourists with a lower average spend.
“Another very important point is not about MTA, because the MTA is there, but it’s the people who run it who are responsible. You cannot put people there for the sake of employing them there. Whoever doesn’t perform should be kicked out.”
Actually, it was because of disagreement about the people running MTA that the younger Zahra was stopped from the restructuring process. He disagreed with the tourism minister about the appointment of Romwald Lungaro Mifsud as the executive chairman of the authority.
But despite his previous assertion about “the people who run it being responsible” for MTA’s success, Zahra snr refuses to get personal.
“We cannot talk about personalities,” he says.
“First of all we weren’t stopped,” the son interjects. “The term that we were on had come to an end. We did it for the love of the industry… we had been asked to draw up a report and we did that. We gave that report to government, presented it to the prime minister during a five-hour session, he agreed with it, he gave it the green light, and that’s where our term came to an end.”
But it is publicly known that you disagreed with Lungaro Mifsud’s appointment.
“At this point in time we have the love of the industry at heart, so whoever is heading MTA will be getting our full support, whoever it is.”
One of Lungaro Mifsud’s first decisions was to make staff go to work in uniform, including himself. What’s your assessment of his performance so far?
“We shouldn’t talk about these things in this interview,” Zahra snr interjects.
The son explains: “But the assessment of any individual cannot be done before he’s appointed, or after two months. The assessment will be based on the implementation of the restructuring and on the results achieved. This time next year we’ll be able to answer that question, but everyone has to be given the chance to prove himself.”
I book the interview a year in advance. By then, even the full impact assessment of the controversial golf course across the road should be clearer.