Marsa’s regeneration: Is it fourth time lucky?

The Grand Harbour regeneration plan complements Malta Vision 2050, to be launched in the coming days, Robert Abela writes in an opinion piece being published today. 

Describing the harbour plan as “Malta’s most ambitious transformation in decades”, the prime minister says it dovetails with the pillars that underpin Vision 2050: Sustainable development, quality of life, improved connectivity, innovation, and economic resilience. 

Abela writes that following a six-week public consultation process, a pre-market consultation targeting the site of the former power station in Marsa will take place. This will constitute the first phase of the ambitious project that targets key public areas in Marsa and Floriana. 

The Grand Harbour revival plan seeks to transform the inner part of the Grand Harbour, once home to the coal depot, a polluting power station and industrial quayside activity, into a mixed-use development of open spaces, commercial establishments, restaurants, a yacht marina, gardens and pedestrian promenades. 

International design firm Chapman Taylor, known for global projects such as The Mall of Qatar and MediaCityUK in Manchester, were engaged in planning and visualising the revival of the location. 

“I have always believed that Marsa has enormous potential to become one of the most beautiful zones in Malta. That is what the people who live in Marsa deserve, and that is what we will give them,” Abela writes. 

An artist’s impression taken from the 2021 plans unveiled by then infrastructure minister Ian Borg for the regeneration of the Grand Harbour

The latest plans are the third such attempt by the Labour administration since 2013 to regenerate the inner part of the Grand Harbour, known locally as Il-Menqa. The Marsa power station was shut down and dismantled when the Electrogas power plant in Delimara was built, giving residents reprieve from the fumes. But that is as far as things got. 

In 2017, the government, through Projects Malta, had launched an expression of interest for the regeneration of Il-Menqa. It had to be followed up by a request for proposals but nothing came of the plans. 

A second attempt was made in 2021 when Ian Borg, then in the role of infrastructure minister, unveiled a bold, futuristic vision for regenerating the Grand Harbour. 

The plans, laid out in a 76-page document, covered the coastline from beneath Fort St Elmo in Valletta all the way around to Fort Ricasoli in Kalkara and included restoration of fortifications and a tourist trail. They also envisaged a yacht marina at Il-Menqa. 

However, the bold vision never materialised and today, the third iteration of the Grand Harbour’s regeneration under a Labour government has been unveiled. 

Indeed, the first ambitious plan that sought to develop a holistic transformation of the port was unveiled by then minister Austin Gatt in 2007 on the eve of the general election. The plans included the transformation of several spaces all around the Grand Harbour in what had to be a comprehensive investment worth almost €300 million. 

The holistic vision was never executed but standalone projects such as the transformation of Villa Bighi in Kalkara into the Esplora Science Centre did happen in subsequent years. 

But what was ostensibly the first proposal for regenerating Marsa’s Il-Menqa, came in 2003 when then Labour candidate Alfred Mifsud, a financial services practitioner and former chairman of Mid Med Bank, had unveiled a personal plan to transform the Marsa power station site and its environs into a modern business district. 

The Marsa area of the Grand Harbour has long intrigued politicians and planners as a potential place for regeneration but so far residents have only seen plans, visions and glitzy presentations. They can only hope that the latest commitment does deliver results.