Marsaskala residents write to Tourism Minister over ‘sham’ design contest for urban regeneration

Marsaskala residents have written to Clayton Bartolo asking him to cancel an urban regeneration design contest for the locality organised by the Malta Tourism Authority.

In the letter to the Tourism Minister, a group of residents express concern that the contest is nothing more than a cover-up to further the business interests of a few.

They urged the MTA to call off the design contest and requested instead a long period of consultation with residents of all ages and backgrounds for a holistic plan for the locality.

The letter was copied to Prime Minister Robert Abela, who lives in Marsaskala, and Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia. It was disseminated to the media by Moviment Graffitti.

The residents believe the MTA contest is a cover-up for changes to Ġnien Sant’ Anna, which lies at the heart of the old village core, and its surroundings.

The letter follows up on a protest held last month in which residents, local councillors and Graffitti voiced their concerns on the MTA’s contest.

Changes to the garden had already been planned by a now defunct sub-committee set up by the locality’s mayor, which was made up of individuals with business interests in the area.

The residents said the sub-committee had been meeting and working on a variety of proposals for Marsaskala behind closed doors and in liaison with Infrastructure Malta and the MTA. The committee was disbanded after it was found to be operating illegally.

Proposals that were considered by the committee had been the pedestrianisation of roads in the vicinity of the garden and rerouting of traffic towards the St Anne School.

It also considered embellishment works on a hard-standing facility used by fishermen in the winter to place their boats on, which would have necessitated the construction of a replacement facility in another area of the bay.

The residents claim that the proposals dealt with by the sub-committee would have taken up open space and served the business interests of the few.

“Residents now feel justified in their worry that the MTA Design contest was put in place to carry out these ‘regeneration proposals,’ which the sub-committee itself planned to carry out but no longer could,” the Graffitti statement said.

Read the letter sent to the Tourism Minister below: