Update 3 | PN leader issues rallying cry against Zonqor university

'Hunters and green NGOs united against university'-Busuttil • Video by Ray Attard

The Labour Party accused Opposition leader Simon Busuttil of “taking advantage of people’s genuine concern” over the American University of Malta project to score political points.

The PL said that despite its criticism, the Opposition leader was not in a position to come up with viable alternatives to the project. Worse, it said, was that Busuttil showed he was against pluralism in education.

“Simon Busuttil’s worst problem is that he doesn’t want an investment in the south of Malta, a region forgotten by the Nationalist governments,” it said.

Busuttil this morning lambasted the Malta Environment and Planning Authority for proposing the development of a foreign university on land at Zonqor Point that is outside development zones.

During a meeting with environmental NGOs this morning, the PN leader expressed his “great disappointment” at MEPA.

“The Environment Authority’s role is to protect ODZ land and not to suggest its development. MEPA has disqualified itself from being a just and independent player,” Busuttil said.

Questioning whether the 90,000 square metres of land to be regaled to Sadeen Group – the Jordanian investors setting up the ‘American University of Malta’ – will be used for purely educational purposes, Busuttil claimed that the project will “not be a university and it is not American”.

When asked to clarify, Busuttil said that there is an “element of deceit” about the deal, as Sadeen is a construction company with no educational experience.

Busuttil, flanked by a number of Opposition MPs in the Opposition’s room at Parliament, said that the Nationalist Party welcomed further investment in education but insisted that the American University of Malta should be build elsewhere without causing harm to the environment and ODZ areas.

“If this university goes through, then the idea of ODZ will end once and for all. Once you start building on ODZ areas, the concept that outside development zones are protected ends,” he said.

Asked whether a future PN government would rule out development in ODZ areas, Busuttil said that “by definition development is prohibited in ODZ land unless it is absolutely necessary and the American University is not necessary.”  

Busuttil went on to urge civil society to unite and oppose “environmental destruction”.  

‘Against MEPA’s own legally-binding plan’

In her presentation, shadow environment minister Marthese Portelli pointed out that a large chunk of the proposed campus was included in a legally-binding natural park approved in the 2006 local plan for the south of Malta.

The plan had earmarked the coastal stretch between Zonqor Point and Blata l-Bajda as a national park for “informal recreation”.

Portelli argued that the proposed campus site includes land of ecological and scientific importance, as well as agricultural land, some of which is used by full-time farmers.

She also highlighted the historic sites in the vicinity, such as Fort St. Leonard and St. Leonard’s chapel, as well as numerous watchtowers, gun posts and other military buildings.

“Why was Zonqor chosen as the preferred site?” Portelli questioned. “Were any geological, archaeological, ecological, marine, cultural, historical, economic and social impact assessments carried out beforehand?”

‘Muscat has united hunters and green NGOs against university’

The meeting, which continued behind closed doors, included representatives from Flimkien Ghall-Ambjent Ahjar, Friends of the Earth, the Ramblers’ Association, the Noise Abatement Society. It was notably also attended by representatives from both BirdLife Malta and the hunters’ federation FKNK, only a month after the two were at each others’ throats ahead of a referendum to abolish spring hunting.

In comments to the press at the end of the meeting, the PN leader recognised the irony in the growing opposition to the project and said that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has “managed to unite environmental NGOs and hunters against the university project.”

In a rallying call for the people who live in southern Malta, Busuttil said the opposition was prepared to do “all that is necessary” to stop the “rape” of virgin land.

FKNK calls on government to look elsewhere

In a statement issued this morning, the FKNK appealed to the government to examine all possibilities for siting the American University of Malta in another area to avoid losing "what little is left of the Maltese islands natural and agricultural land."

"The FKNK appeals to government, as well as to MEPA to ensure that all necessary environmental impact assessments are carried out, such that the objectives of opportunity for educational development are not lost, however, without causing irreversible damage to our natural environment."

The hunting federation also said that is awaiting a meeting with the authorities to discuss the establishment of a Nature Park, which is also part of the project.