Marsaskala marina contract bidders revealed

The names and details of the four bidders for the Marsakala marina concession contract have been tabled in Parliament by Transport Minister Ian Borg.

Two of the bidders are joint ventures. Harbour Management joint venture includes Pierre Balzan’s Melita Marine Group, a major yacht and shipping company also based in Taragona, Spain and Athens, Greece; the consortium includes Italian firm MCS, and Turkish firms Onepage Teknoloji and Ive Insaat Marina Yatirimleri.

Scala Marina joint venture includes Marina Di Valletta Ltd (owned by Arrigo Group, Esprit Yachting, Joinwell, Tal-Magħtab Construction, and Marina di Varazze); and Central Link road builders Naipaul, V & C Contractors, Bitmac, and Schembri Barbros.

The other two tenderers are G.P. Borg, a leading building and civil engineering group of companies; and road-builders Bonnici Bros.

Plans for a yacht marina in Marsaskala were put forward by Transport Malta last August, as part of a pre-qualification questionnaire for the award of a concession to design, build and operate a yacht marina in Marsaskala.

The plans were met with fierceful opposition from the residents, the local council (that voted against the project) and various NGOs.

Borg had skirted questions on whether the marina will be built as planned and likened the backlash to the opposition for the Central Link project. Environment minister Aaron Farrugia Farrugia had said that the government was listening to the feedback and that no decision had been taken yet.