Corinthia development: PD will not support change of use

The Democratic Party is expected to take a stand against the change of use of the Corinthia hotels in St George’s Bay, to allow a mixed-use development.

MPs will have to vote on a resolution allowing the waiver of a condition that binds Corinthia’s owners IHI to only use the land under concession from the government for touristic purposes, to build a six-star luxury hotel project with offices and residences.

The PD’s MEP candidate Anthony Buttigieg accused the Labour administration of numbing people’s outrage to the construction spree in St Julian’s by ignoring the need to have a masterplan for the area.

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“Every week we hear of some new high-rise project, all being proposed in the absence of a masterplan for the area. It is obvious that this is the way the government wants it, until people simply get fed up of trying to oppose these projects,” Buttigieg said.

He also complained that MPs Godfrey Farrugia and Marlene Farrugia had not been informed of the presentation to the National Audit Office Account committee by tourism minister Konrad Mizzi. Neither MP is a member of the committee.

“They were left completely out of the loop,” Buttigieg said. “There was no communication to MPs, neither from the PN side,” he said.

Buttigieg said the PD would be on principle against the change of use of the Corinthia hotels, applying the same yardstick it had on the transfer of land for the former ITS college to the DB Group’s high-rise City Centre. “Without a masterplan, the government is applying a drip-drip policy of allowing one massive project after the other, until people are just too frustrated to even be able to protest the way development is being carried out. It will become a Manhattan.”