[WATCH] Muscat visits new university site in Cospicua

Muscat visits new university site in Cospicua • Video by Ray Attard

This morning Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was given a warm welcome in Cospicua as he was visiting the site which will be housing three faculties belonging to the proposed private American University of Malta.

Yesterday, Muscat announced diminished plans for the university which was originally planned to cover 90,000 square metres on ODZ land in Zonqor, Marsascala. The rest of the university, including two faculties, a dormitory and sport facilities will be built at Zonqor Point.

Accompanied by architect Edwin Mintoff, Muscat was shown around the site which he said marked a “double victory for the south.”

Dock 1 in Cospicua will be housing three faculties in historical warehouses alongside the promenade and Muscat explained that the project will be split in two phases and once the British-era buildings will be restored, the university will start receiving its first students.

“We will then move on to the restoration and construction of the second part of the building,” Muscat said, explaining that the division of the site into sections would ultimately mean that work could be completed in a relatively short time-frame.

Citing, the planning and accreditation processes, Muscat did not give a timeframe for the restoration of the buildings, but he said that he hoped the project would begin taking shape in the near future.

Accompanied by the sounds of cheering and clapping from members of the public, Muscat said the project will breathe new life in the area and reinvigorate the southern part of the island.  

“This project will demonstrate that Cospicua will finally get the uplift and dignity it deserves. The south will finally have a project everyone welcomes,” he said, adding that the university would not just lead to industrial and economic developments, but even social developments.

Muscat said that he had encouraged developers to start working on the project as soon as possible now that the planning decisions had finally been taken.

Muscat said that the consultation process that had ultimately led to this decision had been the greatest the country had ever experienced and that the feedback they had received since the announcement of the project had been “overwhelmingly positive.”

“We are naturally looking closely at some of the sensitive issues that have been voiced by Cospicua residents about parking and connectivity issues in particular,” Muscat said.

He said that there was a possibility for parking systems to be organized by the university itself, as well as plans to open up more connections for better access to the area.