Miriam Dalli defends Enemalta’s consent for real estate on Qajjenza land

Energy Minister Miriam Dalli has defended Enemalta’s decision to give consent to a zoning application proposed by a private developer on a site the energy company owns in Qajjenza. The application aims at setting parameters for the development of real estate on the site.

Replying to MaltaToday’s questions a spokesperson for the minister described the site as an “important financial asset for Enemalta’s operations” and invoked the need to strike a balance “between investment and green projects through different initiatives and investments”. 

The site in question is the decommissioned LPG gas storage facility along the Qajjenza coastline in Birżebbuġa, which is substantially owned by Enemalta. 

Katari Developments Limited, a company owned by developer Paul Attard, has filed a zoning application with the Planning Authority to pave the way for a massive residential and commercial development. Attard does not own any part of the site. 

Enemalta owns 13,561sq.m, the government 3,408sq.m and an additional 6,273sq.m are held by the Mifsud family. 

The ministry spokesperson said consent to Attard’s application “does not impinge” on Enemalta’s ownership of a substnatial part of the site. 

A site plan filed with the zoning application, showing the ownership structure of the Qajjenza site

Last week, MaltaToday revealed that Enemalta had granted consent to the zoning application, which seeks approval for the type and volume of development that could be allowed in the area. 

The application envisages the development of four residential blocks with a height ranging from four and eight floors and two four storey office blocks. The zoning application proposes a change in the local plan which currently limits development in the area to three floors rising to four floors by the seafront. 

Dalli invokes need to strike a balance 

According to the Energy Minister, the aim of the application presented by Attard is to “ask the Planning Authority to determine the uses, layout and buildings for possible future developments in this site within the development zone”. 

Dalli pointed out that until recently, this property was used as an LPG depot and bottling plant. “Now that this operation has been relocated, the site remains an important financial asset for Enemalta’s operations.” 

She was replying to MaltaToday’s questions as to whether consent for an application to allocate the site for real estate development defies Enemalta’s corporate social responsibility, and whether she feels the land would serve a better social purpose if it is returned back to the community. 

Moreover, in view of Enemalta’s consent for commercial development on the site, MaltaToday asked Dalli why a tender was not issued for the eventual transfer of the land to private developers. 

Plans for residences and commercial development put forward by Paul Attard’s Katari Developments as part of the zoning application

The minister insisted that the consent given by Enemalta’s board of directors for the zoning application to be filed “bears no significance on the title of the site”. “This does not impinge on Enemalta’s ownership of part of the same site, nor did Enemalta transfer or sell any of its land,” she said. 

With regards to the potential use of the site as a green space, the energy minister pointed out that Enemalta  is also considering regenerating an adjacent plot of land it owns into a public space. 

She also referred to another project in the Qajjenza area, a few metres away from this site, which would see the San Luċjan oil depot developed into the proposed Siċċa project, which will include extensive green infrastructure. 

“The government seeks a balance between investment and green projects through different initiatives and investments,” she said. 

Dalli also referred to the government’s commitment to create new green open spaces by referring to four new sites which will be returned to the public for recreational purposes, three of which are located in southern Malta - Fgura, Bormla and Birżebbuġa. In Birzebbuga, she added, the project will see the Bengħajsa Family Park doubled in size, with a 20,000sq.m extension. 

More than 150 objections have been presented by residents to the Qajjenza zoning application over the past days. Moviment Graffitti is also objecting and has described any transfer of public land to private interests as “highly objectionable”. 

It also asked the government to give serious consideration to restore the site into a a public green recreational space in view of intensive industrial development in the surrounding area which includes a power station and the freeport.