Moviment Graffitti is strongly opposed to the proposed deal that would gift public land to the Corinthia group for real estate development and two hotels. The proposed deal is intrinsically wrong, on every level. It would give away public land, a rare and precious resource in a small country like Malta, for a pittance; and this land will be used for a monstrous project that will have a disastrous impact on people and the environment.
It seems that under the proposed deal, the Corinthia group will be paying a meagre 17 million euros premium for a vast stretch of land situated in a prime site. This will be primarily used to build luxury apartments for the super-rich, meaning that Corinthia will be raking in hundreds of millions of euros through selling apartments on land they would have gotten practically for free. Moreover, the land in question will never revert to public ownership. This is a blatant case of land theft by big business from the people. It is the epitome of greed and injustice, especially when taken in the current Maltese context of many people facing hardships with buying or renting a home.
What has transpired so far about this project is truly alarming. Corinthia would build nothing less than 12 towers with over 500 apartments, a volume equal to three times the other monstrous project proposed by the db Group on the ITS site. This will clearly have a deleterious impact on the coast and Natura 2000 sites, and it will bury alive residents in the surrounding localities under traffic, pollution, noise and intensive commercial activity. It would also destroy large parts of the seabed through land reclamation and close public access to a significant portion of the foreshore. As this area was never meant for such development, for this project to be approved, the Local Plan will have to be amended. Government would be changing the rules of the game in order to accommodate big business.
A proper assessment of the true impact of this project will also be impossible, since a Masterplan is not yet in place. Notwithstanding repeated promises to develop a Masterplan for the area, a prerequisite for understanding the impact of so many massive projects next to each other, there are no signs of such Masterplan as yet. However, when considering the list of massive developments that are being approved in this area, coupled with the proposal for land reclamation, it is becoming increasingly clear that a secret Masterplan, not approved through the normal democratic channels, is being implemented by the Maltese authorities. This is a Masterplan that fully transforms that area in a gold-mine for the very wealthy, and completely ignores quality of life considerations and environmental protection.
Moviment Graffitti calls on all social forces to oppose the proposed Corinthia deal as we cannot allow the very few to steal our country and ruin our future without giving them a fight.
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Il-Ftehim tal-Corinthia – art misruqa għal proġett orribbli
Moviment Graffitti huwa assolutament kontra dan il-ftehim propost li se jagħti b’rigal biċċa art pubblika lill-Corinthia group għal żvilupp residenzjali u żewġ lukandi. Il-ftehim propost huwa ħażin fih innifsu fuq kull livell. Se jkun qed jagħti art pubblika, riżorsa rari u prezzjuża f’pajjiż ċkejken bħal Malta, għal ħmerija; u din l-art se tintuża għal proġett mostruż li se jkollu impatt diżastruż fuq in-nies u fuq l-ambjent.
Jidher li b’dan il-ftehim propost, il-Corinthia group se jħallas biss 17-il miljun ewro premium għal biċċa art ġmielha f’sit prominenti. Din se tintuża primarjament biex jinbnew appartamenti lussużi għal nies sinjuruni. Dan ifisser li l-Corinthia se tkun qed iddaħħal mijiet ta’ miljuni ta’ ewro mill-bejgħ tal-appartamenti fuq art li jkunu ħadu prattikament b’xejn. Barra minn hekk, l-art in kwistjoni, ma tista’ qatt terġa ssir tal-pubbliku. Dan huwa każ sfaċċat ta’ serq ta’ negozjanti kbar mingħand il-poplu. Din hija l-epitomija tar-regħba u l-inġustizzja, speċjalment meta taraha fil-kuntest Malti ta’ bħalissa fejn ħafna nies qegħdin ibagħtu biex jixtru jew jikru dar.
Dak li ħareġ s’issa dwar dan il-proġett huwa tassew allarmanti. Il-Corinthia se tkun qed tibni mhux inqas minn 12-il torri bil-fuq minn 500 appartament, volum tliet darbiet ikbar mill-proġett mostruż l-ieħor propost mid-db Group fuq is-sit tal-ITS. Dan bla dubju se jħalli impatt irreparabbli fuq il-kosta u s-siti tan-Natura 2000. Apparti minn hekk se tkompli tidfen ħajjin lir-residenti tal-lokalitajiet tal-madwar bit-traffiku, tniġġis, strorbju u attività kummerċjali intensiva. Il-proġett se jkun ukoll qed jeqred partijiet kbar minn qiegħ il-baħar bir-reklamazzjoni tal-art u jagħlaq l-aċċess għall-pubbliku għal parti sostanzjali tal-kosta. Peress li f’dawn l-akkwati qatt ma kien ippjanat żvilupp ta’ din ix-xorta, biex dan il-proġett ikun approvat, jeħtieġ li jinbidel il-Pjan Lokali. Il-Gvern se jkun qed jibdel ir-regoli biex jaġevola lin-negozjanti l-kbar.
Lanqas ma jista’ jsir studju biex jitkejjel sew l-impatt propju ta’ dan il-proġett minħabba li għad m’hemmx Masterplan ta’ dawk l-akkwati. Minkejja wegħda wara l-oħra biex jiġi żviluppat dan il-Masterplan, li mingħajru wieħed ma jistax ikejjel l-impatt ta’ tant proġetti massiċċi ħdejn xulxin, s’issa m’hemm l-ebda sinjal ta’ dan il-Masterplan. Iżda meta tikkonsidra l-lista tal-iżviluppi enormi li qegħdin jiġu approvati f’dawn l-inħawi, flimkien mal-proposti tar-reklamazzjoni tal-art, qed jitneħħa kull dubju li fil-fatt hemm Masterplan sigriet, li ma ġiex mgħoddi mill-proċess demokratiku normali, u li qed jiġi implimentat mill-awtoritajiet Maltin. Dan huwa Masterplan li qed jibdel din iż-żona f’minjiera tad-deheb għas-sinjuruni filwaqt li jinjora kompletament il-kwalità tal-ħajja u l-ħarsien tal-ambjent.
Moviment Graffitti isejjaħ lill-forzi soċjali kollha biex jopponu dan il-ftehim propost tal-Corinthia għax ma nistgħux inħallu lill-ftit ikomplu jisirqu lil pajjiżna u jeqirdu l-futur tagħna mingħajr ma niġġildulhom.
