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Ta’ Qali electoral counting hall’s days are counted. The government has confirmed is intention to sell the complex to the US Department of States for USD18.5 million (Lm6.5 million), first revealed in sister newspaper Business Today.
The sale would be equivalent to 64 plots each measuring around 250 square metres at a commercial value of Lm100,000 each.
A Home Affairs Ministry spokesperson confirmed the sale will include both the vote-counting centre as well as the storage area used by health department.
The hall had been recently closed down because of harmful asbestos fixings.
Sources told MaltaToday the million-dollar complex would also support operational telecommunications facilities for a state of the art US embassy.
But US embassy spokesperson Jeffrey Anderson insists no new facilities are envisaged for the new compound: “the US has enjoyed close diplomatic relations with Malta since 1964 and will continue the wide range of diplomatic activities we currently undertake.”
The US government had embarked on a long-term project to replace “rather than to merely upgrade many diplomatic facilities overseas” back in 1998.
“Under this initiative the US government aims to create safe and functional buildings that blend American and local architectural traditions. Following the completion of many new US embassy buildings around the world, it is now the turn of the US embassy in Malta to have a new site,” Anderson said.
The USD18.5 million acquisition coincided with Monday’s meeting between President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi in Washington – an exceptionally lengthy meeting indicating a ‘warmer’ relationship between Malta and the USA.
jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt
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