PN's Karol Aquilina joins thousands in filing formal objection to db project on ITS land

Nationalist Party MP Karol Aquilina has added his name to the thousands of objectors to the db Group development in St George's Bay after reiterating his opposition to the massive project in Parliament this week.

Aquilina told MaltaToday that he filed the objection in his personal capacity as an MP elected on the 10 District that includes Pembroke. The thousands of objections filed on the Planning Authority's website to the project  is easily the largest number for any development and has overwhelmed the IT infrastructure.

Karol Aquilina tweeted about his formal objection to the PA

Pembroke residents protested against the project last week. Aquilina and former Opposition leader Simon Busuttil were among those who attended. But the PN has been giving mixed messages on its stand on the project.

PN leader Adrian Delia has refrained from pronouncing himself in public on the matter.

However, the PN led councils of Swieqi and St Julians have come out against the project, as has the Labour-led Pembroke council.

Busuttil had been very critical of the land transfer deal last year, which saw the ITS grounds being passed on by the government to the db Group for 99 years. His position boomeranged when the db Group alleged that it had been asked by the former Opposition leader to finance the salaries of key officials, money that was covered by fake invoices issued by the party's media arm.

The db Group will pay a cash consideration of €15 million in the first seven years and another €23 million will be advanced by the individual buyers of the residential units in lease redemptions in subsequent years.

The land transfer is subject to an ongoing investigation by the National Audit Office, which was requested by Busuttil.

Pembroke council opposition

Opposition to the project, which includes a 37-storey residential tower and a 17-floor hotel, shopping mall and casino, on the site formerly occupied by the ITS, a tourism school, has gained traction over the past few weeks.

The project is being opposed by the Pembroke Labour-led council and residents, who fear the project will overshadow them and bring traffic chaos to the area.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat last week told MaltaToday he expected the council to represent the concerns raised by residents but was confident a compromise solution could be found. Muscat insisted the site had development potential.

However, the development cannot go ahead unless a road tunnel connecting the ITS area to the Coast Road is constructed. It will be needed to mitigate the additional traffic that will be created but as yet, there has been no clear commitment by the government that it will build the tunnel and if so, who will finance it.

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