PM tells Delia ‘get your facts straight,’ on Żonqor
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has called on the Nationalist Party (PN) to “get its facts straight” before issuing a motion to reverse the land deal for Sadeen Group to develop virgin land at Zonqor Point for the second campus of the American University of Malta (AUM).
Yesterday evening, Parliament discussed a special motion put forward by the PN for government to reverse the deal it struck with Sadeen Group and prevent the development of virgin land at Zonqor Point, Marsaskala.
The vote was initially rejected however PN MP Fredrick Azzopardi called a division, and the next vote will be taking place on 5 March.
Muscat said there are a number of shortcomings in the PN’s motion.
He said it is based on false premises, and that there are at least two facts that are totally incorrect which Delia spoke of in his speech.
“Zonqor land, like the education minister has said many times, will be developed only in the moment where the Cospicua campus reaches critical mass.”
He said that Sadeen has already spent around €20 million to refurbish the Dock 1 campus in Cospicua.
“The concern of the PN that the Zonqor campus would end up being flats is factually incorrect.”
He also said that Delia is mistaken on the price of land, and that it is incredulous how the PN is criticising the deal when compared with Smart City, which was brokered under a PN government on ODZ land and is extremely comparable, was sold even cheaper at 73c per square meter.
Towards the end of the debate, PN MP Jason Azzopardi hit back at the Smart City comparison, saying that the government received a portion of all earnings made on the side from the outset of the deal.
Echoing Education Minister Evarist Bartolo’s statement, Muscat said that AUM has not been in breach of any conditions as can be easily verified as they have been made public.
“The PN should read the contract before issuing a motion. Get your facts right,” he told the Opposition.
He said that the government wants the AUM to succeed, despite the various “spanners” being thrown by different sectors.
Muscat referred to the dispute Delia spoke of in his speech with MCAST, saying the problems were inherited from previous governments.
He stressed that the AUM is a private institute and the government does not interfere, in the same way government does not interfere in the University of Malta.
Muscat revealed that former Opposition leader Simon Busuttil has now been employed to teach at the University of Malta, which really goes to show that the government does not interfere.
On the issue of wage increases for government teachers, Muscat said that it is in talks with independent schools who are concerned that they cannot match the increases.
“Education Minister met with independent schools because he is concerned about the government teacher wage rise, and we are in discussions.”
Adrian Delia pleads with government to be nonpartisan in its consideration
Delia praised the University of Malta, among the oldest in Europe.
He slammed the government for placing the “company”, referring to the American University of Malta, on the same footing as the University of Malta.
“This is shows big disrespect to our university, to its faculty and to its students.”
He reminded the House that the company behind AUM, Jordan-based Sadeen Group, is not an educational institution and does not have colleges and other educational entities under its wing.
In fact, Sadeen Group mainly deals in construction, and also has one secondary school in its possession.
Delia questioned why, if Malta needed a foreign University, didn’t the government scour the globe to find an interested party that has a decent track-record in education.
He quipped that in Malta there were not enough contractors to choose from, so the Prime Minister had to find some from Jordan.
“Government wants to invest in education, and brings contractors. Government wants to invest in health care, and brings in somebody who has no track record in health (Vitals Global Healthcare).”
Delia reminded the House that Sadeen Group was awarded 90,000m2 for €4.88 per square meters. Muscat reacted to this by slamming him for getting his facts wrong, as the footprint has been reduced to 31,000 square meters.
He stressed that the Cospicua campus does not even have enough faculty and staff to fill its halls, therefore it makes no sense to spoil virgin land in Zonqor.
“We have little land. Let us not laugh in each others’ faces or act in a partisan way.”
He questioned whether Parliamentarians are capable of thinking and deciding in a non-partisan way, calling for logical, reasoned thinking about whether it is really a good idea to spoil the virgin land on Zonqor when pristine land is so scarce.
Despite calling for non-partisan thinking, Delia spoke of how a previous Labour government capped the number of students allowed to enter the University of Malta, while it was a Nationalist government that opened the doors again.
More extensive coverage of the debate can be found online on www.independent.com.mt